I’mma let you finish, but every day Kanye West makes it nearly impossible for his fans to defend him.
Although West has been on the top of many people’s hate list, and according to Star Magazine is the most hated celebrity in Hollywood, I stood by his side for many years. Whether it was when his 2007 top hit “Good Life” was the ringtone on my flip phone, sitting 4th row at his “Watch the Throne” concert, attending his ultra-dramatic “Yeezus” concert or defending the artist via social media whenever he felt the need to ruin an acceptance speech.
I always saw West as the man who said what everyone else was afraid to, and that’s why I appreciated him so much. When he clearly stated on national television “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” or when he cut Taylor Swift off, making sure she understood that “Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time,” he was speaking for so many people.
Yes, you could argue that was extremely rude, ignorant and disrespectful, but at the end of the day, he said what millions of Americans were thinking.
I respect West’s outspokenness — he’s a truly intellectual individual, but lately, he seems to be losing his touch.
In a speech at Oxford University, he claimed that classism is the new racism, later stating that clothing should never exceed $5,000. He said successful artists like Beyoncé and the nation’s first black president are proof enough that racism is a thing of the past.
How ignorant can you be Kanye? There are numerous things wrong with his proclamation.
For starters, it’s extremely hypocritical. He’s always had a few hypocritical statements — for example, in his hit “Good Life,” he raps, “Welcome to the good life, where we like the girls who ain’t on TV,” but now he’s married to Kim Kardashian West, a reality TV star.
But I’ll give Kanye a small pass on that because the song came out in 2007, and he started dating Kim in 2012. So, there is a possibility he could have had a change in heart in those five years.
But in early 2014, he released a shoe, Nike Air Yeezy 2, that is now going on eBay for $9,000. What average person can afford to spend $9,000 on a single clothing item? Slim to none.
His plain white t-shirt may not exceed $5,000, but the average person still can’t afford to spend $120 on something they can get for $3 elsewhere.
In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, when he was asked about classism, he said, “We classist now. Classism is when they try to say, ‘You’re a rapper … your girl is on a reality show, so you’re not up here with us. We’re old money.’”
He sadly doesn’t even see that classism is deeper than his multi-million dollar wife not being accepted with the “old money.” Honestly, who cares?
He should be arguing that a large percentage of African-Americans live in poverty and that poverty and unemployment rates for African-Americans are more than double that of whites.
When you’re not living in a multi-million dollar house, get rid of the private jets and ditch the Lamborghinis, then you can speak on how classism is a problem in America.
During his acceptance speech at last month’s BET Honors Awards, Kanye clearly said, “Part of the reason why I’m not allowed to be in power is because of race.”
There is hypocritical Kanye again because the next month at his speech at Oxford, he said classism has replaced racism.
Racism is still alive and well. Black children are still fighting to receive the same education, numerous black people are still being innocently killed by law enforcement and there are still people who disagree that “Black Lives Matter”.
He should know better. He should know that, although we have a black president, he hasn’t been able to do half of what he wanted to do. President Obama and his family have been called monkeys, and many white people don’t even acknowledge him as being black.
If anything, racism and classism have a direct relationship.
Get it together, Kanye.
Clarke Perkins is a 19-year-old political science freshman from New Orleans. You can reach her on Twitter @ClarkePerkins.