On this third and final episode of "What Really Grinds My Gears", I'd like to explore the recent event of Kanye West outspokenly supporting President Donald Trump. West started controversy by tweeting out messages of support for Trump, and was supported by Chance The Rapper, who tweeted "Not all black people have to be Democrats." (1) I see this turn of events as mostly just a publicity stunt by a mentally-questionable Kanye, who wants to garner more attention before his upcoming album release in June. My favorite response was from black comedian Trevor Noah, who remarked, "I don't even know what happened here. I guess Kanye West just realized he's too rich to not be Republican." (2)
Trump responded to West, of course, saying that "Kanye West has performed a great service to the Black Community." (3) In the words of President Trump, "wrong." The support of a prominent black popular culture figure for a political figure who has so blatantly proven to be racist (among other things), specifically towards LatinX and black people, is problematic in so many ways. The age-old adage states, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend and the enemy of my friend is my enemy". That logic, unfortunately, cannot explain Kanye - and if it does, that implies that, as Trump has repeatedly proven to be an enemy of the black community, West is as well. He and Chance The Rapper have publicly demonstrated that, to them, their own well-being and affluence are more important than the advancement of their own people. The advent of Republican legislation that directly benefits rich, black celebrities is the protection of their wealth, specifically through tax breaks for the wealthy and allowance of legal loopholes. However, the same policies tend to hurt low and middle class families and perpetrate economic disparities between black and white incomes. As a result, Kanye's support for Trump and the entire concept of rich, black conservatives like Chance The Rapper is very problematic. At any level, this seems to demonstrate a blatant betrayal of the majority black community in America - the very same demographic that has helped these artists achieve their fame and wealth by supporting their music and brand.
(1) http://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-43924422
(2) http://www.cc.com/video-clips/3zyzfn/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-kanye-west-reaffirms-his-love-for-donald-trump
(3) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/arts/music/kanye-west-trump-conservatives.html?smid=pl-share
MLK in context - an exploration of King's life and work from an historical perspective
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