I know this probably won’t be a popular thing to say, but I find it interesting and somewhat alarming how quickly people write off Kanye for his antisemitism, Nazi-related remarks, and his open dislike of white people, specifically Jewish people. He has repeatedly pointed out how certain industries pit Black people against each other, especially by promoting violence, drug culture, and self-destruction. But when he speaks out against white people, he gets demonized.
At the same time, for as long as I can remember, I’ve heard many POC, both online and in real life, demonize white people, mainly white men, and call out white corporate leaders, especially in fields like music, fashion, politics and medicine. Kanye had personal issues with people in those industries. So where is the line? When is it okay for my fellow POC to be critical of white power structures, and when is it not? I’ve heard so many openly racist things said about white people, things I’ve even had to call out, only to be told, “You can’t oppress the oppressor.”
On top of that, one of my best friends is Jewish, and I’ve seen firsthand how the Israel-Palestine conflict has affected him and his family. He has watched people openly call for the extermination of his relatives still living in Israel, essentially calling for genocide. Seeing that kind of hatred directed at people he loves has been heartbreaking, and it has made me even more lost on how to navigate these conversations.
I also don’t want to sound like I’m sympathizing with men who clearly do harm, but I’ve heard so many extreme statements like “kill all men” from certain feminist spaces or people saying “eat/kill the rich” in class-based discourse. Are these not all just different forms of the same thing? At their worst, these movements call for hatred, prejudice, and even violence. The same goes for men who become extreme in the other direction. Incels and red-pilled types feed into a more toxic version of patriarchy rather than seeking real solutions.
Bringing it back to Kanye, people constantly write him off as “crazy” and say he just needs to take his medication. But that’s what society has always done to people who make others uncomfortable. What if his experiences are legitimate? What if he really was wronged by specific people who happened to be part of a certain group, and that’s what led him down this extreme path? Is it fair to dismiss everything he says, or should we at least try to understand what led him here before condemning him?
I’m not trying to take a side. I just feel lost on how to think about all of this. Where do we draw the line between necessary critique and harmful rhetoric? How do we navigate all these layers of racial, social, and political division in a way that actually makes sense?