One day, in what I hope is the near future, Kanye West will be checked into psych ward where he can’t say anything else that makes black people shake their heads. But until then, we have this new disaster to deal with. Not even one week shy of his Make America Great Again stunt—Kanye has once again proven to the world he is a complete f*cking idiot. I tried my best to believe he didn’t need to be checked into the sunken place psychiatric facility, but I be damned, he’s definitely needs a bed. If there was ever any doubt the Twitter attention seeking whore had an ounce of sanity left—he has confirmed like Elvis—it has left the building.
During an appearance on TMZ Live Tuesday morning, Kanye who has somehow distanced himself from the history of black people—proclaimed that the 400 years African Americans spent enslaved—was indeed a choice. Yes you read that correctly….I said a choice.
“When you hear about slavery for 400 years…for 400 years? That sounds like a choice,” West said.
To much dismay, Kanye was obviously taught a different version of slavery than the rest of us, because nowhere in the versions I have studied does it state—black people willingly boarded a five-star cruise ship with Louis Vuitton baggage and a one-way ticket to the paradise of their choice.
I can’t find one, single place in history where it ever states the chains slaves wore were optional hip hop accessories and the 400 years deluxe suite stay on plantations could be easily checked out of by noon. I’m not sure if I missed that day in history class, though I don’t recall anyone signing up for complimentary beatings, long hours, no pay and death.
When you find out the plantation doesn’t look like the picture in the brochure. #IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/9MoFgYXArM
— Doreen Hatcher (@doremie_03) May 2, 2018
But to Kanye, of course it sounds like a choice. Of course, slavery sounds like something you can easily walk out of when you didn’t have to endure an ounce of it. Sure, it sounds like you can turn in your two weeks notice and leave, when you are sitting your over-privileged ass in a multi-million-dollar home—away from the everyday struggles most black people endure.
Now I was inclined to believe this was just Kanye’s usual dose of crazy banter that may have led to a thought-provoking message, but like being sold a bad bag of weed—he disappointed me yet again.
Hoping he couldn’t stick his foot further down his throat—he continued to prove he’d been given a 24-hour hall pass from the looney bin when he said, “Like you was there for 400 years and it’s all of y’all?”
Considering he and his wife are in denial about his psychological issues—it’s no wonder he doesn’t understand the mental enslavement slaves went through on top of the physical and emotional abuse. Clearly he is under the impression, slave owners were nothing more than school yard bullies who slaves just chose not to fight back. According to someone who has declared he is thinking freely, it appears he too is a prisoner in his own mind.
Wake up Mr. West!
Making the most out of this tragic situation—Black Twitter decided to poke fun at Kanye’s stupidity. Creating the hashtag #IfSlaveryWereAChoice, thousands of people took to Twitter to reenact what it may have been like if slavery was actually a choice.
*Me pulling up to the cotton field to see if squad working today*#IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/o0V4MaIxWt
— Pierre Savage-Hunter (@PrettyboiiDB_9) May 2, 2018
When massa doesn’t offer a 401K, benefits, or any insurance #IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/UeUcAQuJt2
— jessani🌶 (@spicycheethoe) May 2, 2018
Jokes ranging from lack of overtime pay, clocking out for the day, looking for new plantation jobs, dismissing Massa, and responses to being whipped flooded Twitter—proving how resilient our culture is regarding something so tragic.
Though no part of slavery was funny in any way, it was a relief to see people laugh instead of getting upset and angry about his comments. For the second week in a row, Kanye has yet to see the danger that lies within his comments. He is oblivious to the fact he is dismissing something that altered the state of African American lives; therefore, adding to the “get over it narrative” we battle on a daily basis. Kanye and his mouth have not come to terms with the fact his words hold power and influence—which people hang on—and listen to—what he says. Â
I cannot imagine the burden this type of responsibility carries. However, for him, it seems it has become too heavy of a burden to carry—and this is the result of it. I am also pretty sure at some point during all of this—Kanye is going to take credit for sparking another unwarranted conversation—through osmosis of yet another stupid ass thing he said or did—and we’ll have to find another clever way to tell him to shut the fuck up.
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