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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.
— Only Hip Hop Facts (@OnlyHipHopFacts) May 1, 2018
West's comments came after he tweeted support for Donald Trump, saying him and the President both share the same "dragon energy."
You don't have to agree with trump but the mob can't make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don't agree with everything anyone does. That's what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought.
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.
Future convo Kanye West: "Slavery was a choice."
Donald Trump: "There were bad slaves on both sides, both sides."#IfSlaveryWereAChoice
Can’t believe this crap is trending. None of you losers weren’t there, you’re not slaves, just self-made victims, exploiting past of our ancestors. #IfSlaveryWereAChoice
Some think that the comment shouldn't even be acknowledged.
Some of you are taking it like the #IfSlaveryWereAChoice hashtag is people laughing and mocking slavery. They are laughing and mocking an ignorant man who made an ignorant comment. Better to just laugh at his ignorance than hold anger towards it.
And there were some people who asked the question that was on everyone's minds after West said what he said.
Someone needs to send Kanye back 400 years ago to see what choices he would have had. I suppose he would have chosen death because that was the only other choice for slavery. Idiot. Just like his President. #IfSlaveryWereAChoice
— Rico Negasi 🤴🏽🦁 #May9th♉️♉️♉️♉️ (@YUNGDRIZZEY) May 2, 2018
Others pointed out what the other option was for those who decided to "opt out of slavery" back then.
The people who say that Kayne was right act as if DEATH wasn’t the other option. They act like our people didn’t rebel. They did. They were met with guns and whips. They were mutilated, raped, and murdered. Shut up. #IfSlaveryWereAChoice
the reason why I brought up the 400 years point is because we can't be mentally imprisoned for another 400 years. We need free thought now. Even the statement was an example of free thought It was just an idea
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.
Kanye West: "I'm being attacked for presenting new ideas."
Someone really needs to stop Kanye from tweeting these fake quotes that never existed. Very Trumpish and it is dangerous because dumb people believe and racist people don't care if it is true or false. Quote has been used by racist people for decades it is entirely made up. https://t.co/0gMEi7YXC0
Many think that Kanye should read up a bit more on the history of slavery.
Dear @kanyewest, from @HISTORY: "Laws dictating when, where and how slaves could congregate were enacted to prevent insurrection and quell white paranoia. It’s estimated there were at least 250 slave rebellions in America before slavery was abolished." #Haiti#Maroons. #READ!
Trust your intentions. Appreciate your transparency, and commitment to authenticity. But it’s getting dark when you’re implying that what held back enslaved people was a mentality—it was a fixed and reinforced power structure, and when you wear that red hat you reinforce the same
For the most part though, everyone is just shocked West would ever say what he just said.
Don’t usually get caught up in commenting about stuff like this but I saw what Kanye West said and I was ASHAMED. 400 Years of slavery a CHOICE???? Really! All I’ll say is this: I’m incredibly proud of that staffer from TMZ. Brilliant, Eloquent & totally appropriate response.#WTH
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.
