Kanye West Suggests Slavery Was 'A Choice' Made By Black People

Random question, if given the option to be treated like dirt, forced to do manual labor, have your identity stripped away, your children ripped away from you and sold on a market, live in shackles and chains, be bred like livestock, and the only form of compensation you'll ever receive is maybe a shanty quarters to live in and some food that's only a little better than what's served to pigs, would you pick that option?

Because Kanye West, a man known for saying/doing outlandish and ridiculous things says he believes Africans chose to stay slaves after being chained and shipped from their native homeland and brought to America. And he did it right on TMZ in a live interview (starts at 1:14 mark, which I've got placed right for you below).

West was shut down after making the incendiary claim by TMZ's Van Lathan who provided this succinct and eloquent response to the artist.

West's comments came after he tweeted support for Donald Trump, saying him and the President both share the same "dragon energy."

Then there was Kanye wearing this MAGA hat.

And Trump and his constituents, who are very quick to dismiss any entertainer who criticizes what he does and says as being "out of touch" or that they should just stick to being an entertainer, are very, very happy with the fact that Kanye West is saying positive things about the Donald.

And while many were just chalking up Kanye's comments as an attempt to get his name in the news to promote his upcoming two albums, his "slavery was a choice" comments had a lot of people on Twitter very frustrated, angry, and shocked.

Many are tweeting the #ifslaverywereachoice hashtag to give their thoughts on West's comments.

Some think that the comment shouldn't even be acknowledged.

While others are fearing for the future of Kim and Kanye's relationship.

Others think that people of color are basically doing it to themselves.

And there were some people who asked the question that was on everyone's minds after West said what he said.

Some just couldn't stop parodying what the artist said.

Others pointed out what the other option was for those who decided to "opt out of slavery" back then.

And others just couldn't help being realer than real.

The backlash to Kanye's statement had the artist take to Twitter to explain what he meant by saying the the 400 years were a "choice."

And that he was being "attacked" for presenting new ideas.

But in all fairness, I mean, you have the right to say whatever you want and people have the right to point out just how dumb the things you're saying truly are, with evidence, of course.

Many Twitter users just couldn't understand how Kanye's claim was in any way constructive.

Others pointed out that West was misquoting influential African American figures.

And the problems behind tweeting out fake quotes.

Others noticed a recurring trend with notable African Americans who have publicly endorsed Trump.

Many think that Kanye should read up a bit more on the history of slavery.

For the most part though, everyone is just shocked West would ever say what he just said.

There's been a slew of celeb responses to Kanye West's suggestion that slavery was a choice, but this Will.I.Am one pretty much hits the nail on the head.

"That broke my heart, because I thought about my grandma, who was born in 1920, and her connection with her mom who raised her, who was born in the late 1800s.

And my grandmother's grandma, who was a slave. And when you're a slave, you're owned. You don't choose if you're owned. When you're a slave you're deprived of education. That's not choice, that's by force.

So I understand the need to have free thought, but if your thoughts aren't researched, that is just going to hurt those that are still in conditions where it's not choice."

I'm still hoping this is just a marketing tactic and Kanye went too far, because I can't even possibly fathom how people whose family members were affected by slavery feel about what he said.