[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=193&v=s_M4LkYra5k[/embed]
The fourth trending video on YouTube this morning is a heated exchange between Kanye West and TMZ’s Van Lathan.
Kanye made some controversial remarks during his interview at TMZ, including the comment that “American slavery is a choice. When you hear about slavery for 400 years, for 400 years, that sounds like choice,” he remarked.
After Kanye's on camera diatribe, in which he reaffirms his support for President Trump, the controversial rapper was confronted by TMZ’s Van Lathan.
In the video Lathan rebuts, “The rest of us in society have to deal with these threats in our lives. We have to deal with the marginalization that has come from the 400 years of slavery that you said for our people was our choice.”
The video sparked retaliatory reactions on Twitter. Symone D. Sanders, a contributor and political commentator from CNN wrote, “Kanye is a dangerous caricature of a ‘free-thinking’ black person in America.” She went on to say that slavery was far from a choice.
Spike Lee also commented via Instagram stating, "My Brother, OUR Ancestors Did Not Choose To Be Stolen From Mother Africa."
Kanye seems to enjoy stirring up the controversy. His latest remarks follow his now infamous tweet in which he compares himself to Trump and their shared “dragon energy.” ~Ari Derin
So... this is called "Cherry Picking"(With bad editing). He means choice in that, there are People of Colour who choose "To Do" and those people go out of their prison, they are now Doctors, and teachers, and Lawyers and Members of Government etc... they Changed their stars for the best. They used whatever resources at their disposal to make something of themselves. Then there are those of choose "To Not", and they stay in their prison, they site there and make excuses why they cant, because "White Men", Because "Racism", they come up with ideas like "White Privilege" and say stupid stuff like "All white people are Racist" and create resentment, they create the monster they think they are fighting. Those people, will never get out of that prison. They have all the tools at their disposal to do so, but they chose "To Not". And in many cases, those people have because as racist as those they think they are fighting. You dont fight racism with racism. That's like putting gas on a fire to put it out. Which is exactly whats been going on for close to a decade now. Its Easier to Hate, than it is to Love and Forgive. Most White people, are n ot racist, In fact, I'd like to think that most White people fight against inequality. White People have been trying to make things right for the last 50 years, but you wont let them make it right.
It all depends on how you interpret what Krazy Kanye means. He is turning out to be a pathetic Trump wannabe in terms of needing to say stupid things to get attention. If you look at that period of 400 years of slavery there was no choice, read some history, and even after emancipation there was little or no choice. Look at the Jim Crow Laws enacted almost 100 years after the Civil War. I could go on and on and I am speaking as a middle class white person. Beyond that, Kanye has no crediblity on any topic as far as I am concerned. Neither does TMZ. HL jumped the sharked years ago. Kanye is a fake celebrity seeker with no substance anymore. He is a hollow shell. He has my sympathies. The K Trash sucked out what little creativity he had. Now he is despearate for attention. He will go down in history as another cautionary tale.
Thoughts on Kanye West and trump aside (yuck on both counts - just an opinion) - love what Tharsos2099 said - I could’nt have expressed it better - you can’t fight racism with racism and I see too many people blaming everyone else for their lives instead of taking back their power and doing what they can with it - if you are raised to know that the injustices in this world and the bad things that happen can’t be allowed to conspire to keep you down - you will always find a way to make it through - and if you aren’t raised that way hopefully you will find it out as I eventually did.
@logic69 ... Slavery in America, lasted 247 years, Not 400. Yes, what came after is a far cry from from proper treatment, but they were free, they created their own communities, their own businesses, get education, things they could not do previously. If you'd like an estimate that no one ever brings up, look at the Barbary Slave Trade (Where Africans took Asians, Europeans, Greeks etc...) who for 4000 years sold these slaves to the highest bidder, and all of those more than likely died under the whip. Or Look at the how African warlords, still to this day steel their own children and sell them into the Sex Trades and Child Soldiers, still to this day. They Have no choices. What many consider as "slavery" in the Western world Today is essentially a choise in that they have the resources to make it. but they chose to not use those resources. Did you know that in the US alone, there are over 800 organizations dedicated entirely to help People of Colour with whatever they need. (Start a business, buy a house, get off the streets, get an education etc...) but they do not use these resources. they scream about Racism, they become racist themselves but, but they dont use the resources that could get them out from the prison they are in. I dont like Kanye, Never have. but dont demonize the man cause you refuse to hear his message. Cause that is a You problem. not a him problem
he's a "self-described" genius. that tells you all you need to know right there. who else thinks they are? donald trump. no wait, he described himself as a "stable genius". like people who think they're cool, if you have to say it yourself...you're not even close to really being it.
All those who were actually involved in the slavery that everyone is talking about has passed on now. Let them all rest in peace. Let us learn from the past but look towards the futur and stop fighting about something we had nothing to do with. The only thing I will say to Kanye is that he wasn't there so who is he to say. Most of humanity (except disturbed individuals who could be of any genetic background,any religion. who are bad and use these other things as deflection) has learned about respecting other's right to a free life. I don't know but I'm tired of hearing about this and other issues in a way that makes it seem as though people think they can change the past. I learn about and respect the past. I also feel very much for all living things that have suffered in the past from so many injustices and cruelty to coun, as there have been for more than 2000 years. But I can't fight a battle I have nothing to do with or anyone around me. If I was alive at that time it would be a different matter. I choose to use my energy to help the living in the now. It's the only thing we actually can do.
@Tharsos2099, @Redrover08.... As usual white folks come out and have to use this as a pulpit to either say "oh Africans were slave traders too" or to tell blacks "well stop blaming slavery for your problems now". Do you people really have ZERO empathy in your hearts for what our forefathers (yep I happen to be a blue eyed blond white male and no i am not a liberal apologist just you know human..) did to an entire people? Do you always have to look for an excuse to deflect the inhumanity of the enslavement of African American over 400 year. No one should give @Tharsos2099 any credit for his two cent her cuz his only riason dete for coming here was to demonize blacks and their very real struggle and to stand on his pulpit to say how horrible blacks "who dont make it" are. People like you make me sick. What does what you say have to do with Kanye's disgusting comment> Firsts off you say what Kanye West said is somehow not an affront to the millions who died under slavery? He SAID he cannot believe that with so many slaves under slavery how they "chose" to remain in bondage. Meaning these were weak unintelligent animals who knew no better than to be like pigs in a pen and just mindlessly wait to be slaughtered by the white butchers who owned them.That is a statement you support? So you never liked Kayne (likely because he is black) but now you love him because he spews your narrative of how there is no blame on whites for anything and everything is the doing of blacks themselves including being slaves. So how does what he SAID in clear words turn to what YOU interpreted he said about some allegory for blacks not being able to get out of modern day economic slavery? You sir have to be a KKK member that is straight from their training manual - you know where everything is blamed on blacks being a subhuman inferior race no better than rodents. I mean you even go one to belittle the slavery experience by saying they were slaves for 247 yrs not 400? Really so over since it "only" 200 years of slavery it magically makes it ok as opposed to 400? Whether or not slavery of blacks in what is today the USA existed for 400 yrs the wider enslavement of Afrcicans by those of European descent lasted for 400 yrs. And the fact is despite the nonsense whitewashed history books say about the first slaves being brought to Virgina in 1619 the fact is in 1526, enslaved Africans were part of a Spanish expedition to establish an outpost on the North American coast in present-day South Carolina so that would make it 334 years of slavery in the US on that account alone...but I guess to you 334 is a great alternative to 400 yrs of slavery. The debate on the modern experience of blacks in America and the proper way to solve the issues of racism and mutual mistrust between the two main ethic groups in the US (as a neat picker you will likely bring up the fact that blacks are no longer the other largest ethnic group but lets not digress..) is worth looking at from all angles including whatever you have to say on the subject. But really here it was just about someone (who just happen to be black) saying the millions of slaves who died under slavery (many because they rebelled and tried running away as he insinuated they should have done) were there because they made the choice to be slaves is the most uniformed, unintelligent and hateful remark anyone could make irrespective of colour or ethnic religion and comes with a special award. So congrats on sharing that award with Kanye West.
Gareth, you make some good points but your stridency of expression detracts somewhat from your credibility as an observer and commentator. My principal objection to your post is an uncalled-for presumption that "So you never liked Kayne(sic)(likely because he is black)..." This fosters divisiveness even further and you have no idea whether that was the impetus behind the stance of the writer in any way. Avoid editorializing and bombast such as that if you wish to be taken seriously. For the record, I can't stand Kanye because he is a self-aggrandizing, ridiculous person with delusions of planetary and historical importance--not attributes which can be imputed to any one race, I assure you.
@Gareth You don’t know me. Don’t pretend like you do. If you did know me you’d know that I fight against racism whenever and wherever I see it. Especially when I see a Black Man, make an intelligent comment, and see everyone attack him for it. And how dare you come here and tell anyone here how they should think. People’s minds are their own, and it’s not up to you to tell them how to think. Make your point, and if it makes sense, people will follow. Maybe you need to break out and start thinking for yourself like Kanye did. Fact is, We keep telling people that they need to listen to People of Colour, but the moment a Person of Colour speaks, and what they say goes against the Left’s narrative, You brand that person as a liar, or “Problematicâ€. Its easier to hate, then to put an once of effort into understanding what the man said. Think about that for a second. You have a movement of people, all saying the same thing, verbatim, and you are all ready to tap them on the back and sympathize (But not actually do anything about it) and the one Person of Colour who comes around and say “Ya, that’s not exactly true. You can get out of where you are, let me show you how†and your Brand him a Villain. Think about that. We need to listen to Kanye West, and Morgan Freeman, Candace Owens and the thousands of other People of Colour who are saying “Life isn’t perfect, but the way you are going about fixing it, is all wrong, you’re making it worse. So..... Kanye never said anything about all the lives of people who died. Not one thing, neither did I for that matter, what he’s said is that people today, need to choose to walk away from the type of thinking that keeps them in their “Prisonâ€. But seeing as you seem to be the type of Person who can only think in emoji's or who can’t move forward …. The People who were taken to America as slaves, were not weak. They were a strong people. The People who took them, enslaved them, knew what they were doing. They knew what they were doing because they had been doing it for 4000 years already, but they were taking people other than Africans at the time, and for the record, the people who did that, are still doing it today, to Africans, where is your outrage for that? Those Children being taken today, don’t have a choice, and I don’t see you or anyone on the left fighting for them, not beyond “Thoughts and Prayersâ€. Also, I never said I supported it, those are your words. It’s simply history. It is what it is and there is nothing you can do to change it. All you can do is remember and not repeat it. What you can do, is say “What happened 400 years ago, stays there. Stop blaming white people alive today for something that happened when they weren’t even aliveâ€. Did you know that less the 2% of American alive today are descendants of African slaves. And 0.5% of Americans alive today, are descendants of slaver owners. That means that 99.5% of those people, are descendants of people just minding their own damn business, trying to stay alive like everyone else. My Great Grandmother was brought to Canada from Scotland as a Child slave 100 years ago. There is nothing I can do that changes that and it doesn’t make me hate the British. It is what it is. White people did a lot of shitty thing, so did Black people, So did Chinese and Russians. Over the course of History, Every People on this earth, has been horrible to each other. And sadly you are continuing this cycle of hate. Just my opinion here, I really am starting to believe that it’s the Left keeping people in Bondage. Think about it, the Left has made careers, quite literally, out of telling Women they are victims and telling People of Colour they are oppressed. BLM came to light during Obama’s administration, and he did …. Nothing to help People of Colour. Justin Trudeau, the Liberal’s God, has done.... Nothing to help People of Colour either. The two people, in the last decade who have the power to fix things and… they don’t. Why? Because it’s in their best interest to “keep them in their place†They have built Careers on victimization, it would be bad for business to actually fix those issues.. Which is why, when Kanye tells the Black Community that they need to “Break out of their Prison†that they “have a choice†to be where they are or break the cycle. You go on a witch hunt. For the record, the reason I’m not a fan of Kanye West, is because he’s arrogant, I hate arrogance in people, its ugly. It has nothing to do with some perceived racism, and how it now suits my narrative, like you suggest. If he’s still arrogant, then I’ll still dislike him, that doesn’t in an way mean people should disregard what he says Guess who’s the real Racist here kid, it’s the ones stifling the Black voice without even considering what they are saying.