Will hip-hop vocalist / producer Kanye West, as one blogger has insightfully observed, become the next African-American male to live his public existence as a symbol of the race divide’s vitriol? Will he become a scapegoat for white obsessions over the threat Blackness purportedly represents?
The virtual flood of racist, expletive-laden tweets that followed the artist’s brief rant at last night’s MTV Video Music Awards suggest a strong “Yes.”
As many know, West interrupted singer Taylor Swift during her “Best Female Video” honor and acceptance speech, taking the mic to tell her, and all watching, that, “Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’m gonna let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all-time. One of the best videos of all-time!”, referring to Knowles “Single Ladies,” which had also been nominated.
West’s rude and abortive outburst drew loud, droning catcalls from the audience, while an embarrassed and stunned Swift stood, shocked and still, before being escorted gently from the stage.
As stated on MTV’s web site,
According to reports from inside the house, once cameras cut away from the action, West flipped off the crowd and returned to his seat. Wale then said to the crowd, “You can’t blame a man for speaking his mind.” His words were met with boos, and Wale then said, “Kanye, I tried.” During the next commercial break, Pink walked by the rapper and appeared to shake her head in disgust before security escorted her away. West remained steadfast amidst the commotion as he kissed his girlfriend Amber Rose.
West was, shortly afterwards, ejected from the awards show, as he should have been. Later, on stage, Knowles graciously brought out Swift, to let her finish her interrupted statement. (Knowles ultimately won the evening’s Video of the Year award.)
West issued an apology on his blog, which was captured and posted by this journalist before the site, perhaps overwhelmed by visitors, was taken offline.
Apparently, though, the mea culpa wasn’t nearly enough. A “Kanye West is a Bitch” T-shirt, above, made an almost instant appearance on the web. (Given his penchant for self-referentialism, my thought was that West might be the first person we’ll see wearing one.)
Far more troubling, however, were racist tweets that began to pop up on Twitter, the popular social networking site, posted, as one person observed, by those “ODing on digital courage”; emboldened by the physical distance and, often, anonymity the internet provides. (Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher has also blogged about this topic, in a post that quotes this writer.) Some, like the one above, represent second thoughts by those that wrote them. Removed from Twitter’s web site, presumably by the authors, they were captured, nonetheless, by caches in other places and then saved by MEDIA ASSASSIN.
Many, though, are still up, and new ones are being added, like this post, above, offered early this afternoon, in which 40-year-old David Gerds, of Hayward CA, asks someone to kill Kanye.
Is it legal to urge the murder of another person? Some of these posts call for West to be lynched. All of them refer to West as a “nigger.” History has frequently demoed that, when you add a blond, blue-eyed, white female like Swift to that mix, whose honor the mob is duty-bound to protect, somebody Black will inevitably water the courthouse lawn with his blood.
What is most provocative, though, is not that this is taking place in the “post-racial” age of Obama. It’s that it’s taken so little to move people to use this kind of language, and to do it so unashamedly. “Kayla Larson,” right, purportedly of the Bay Area, looks like the type of sweet, friendly, neighborhood girl that’s a cashier in that teen fashion store in the strip mall near you. (In fact, judging by the background of her headshot, she may, in fact, do just that.)
I could be wrong, but in her wording and dress, she doesn’t strike me as worldly. Certainly, she doesn’t come off as sophisticated enough to momentarily recall that, unless she’s working for her parent’s business, and plans to do this the rest of her life, posting the kind of statement she has, atop this one, is like posing nude and drunk on Facebook—the sort of activity future employers don’t want to see on your resumé.
That someone apparently so doe-like would engage in speech so rancid, though, should hardly be shocking to Black people, based on experience. As well, I suspect that those white people who say they are surprised by this level of cancer in their holds are, mostly, acting. Race is not a subject people tend to discuss truthfully in mixed company.
So, what to do about this?
Well, certainly, there’s the question of the degree to which any of these tweets violate Twitter’s own terms of service. As well, people on the service can confront, write, or write about these people.
My ongoing call, however, is for non-white people to develop an understanding of race that is meticulous, logical, and systematic. Racism has a sole, functional expression: White supremacy. Racism is not historical. It’s futuristic. It is not going away. It is being refined. It is weaponized through deceit, secrecy, and violence, in that order. Its chief tools are not clubs, bullets, or nooses, but words.
Most of all, however, those white people who say they are not racists, or that they are against racism, should be clearing race from the paths of Black people, like snowplows going through highway drifts. By doing nothing, or doing nothing effective, they cast racist suspicion on themselves through their inertness. The practice of white supremacy is a system, and it involves people giving all kinds safe harbor to racists—physical, social, financial, emotional, relational, hierarchical, psychological, etc.
A commonly noted form of psychological harbor is given, for example, when one white person refuses to confront another white person who tells a racist joke, right, while not in the company of Black people. I’ve been in situations where, later, say, after a lecture, a white person will relay details of this, or some other sort of racism they’ve observed.
“What is the name and title of the person who did this?” I say. “Um…well, I don’t really want to say their name,” they respond. “Who are you trying to protect?” I might then ask. In other words, this is just one way that secrecy works in the system of race: White people covering for each other. There are many, many, many more.
Some will offer that, if there is any consolation in any of this, it’s that most of the twitterers putting up these statements are sparsely followed. (Kayla has 16.) Of course, the fact that white people are the planetary minority, yet the racists dominate everything non-white people think, say, and do should tell you that some minroities are the Effective Majority.
I’ve collected some of these tweets for your study. This sampling, of course, is by no means exhaustive, for the web, generally, or even for Twitter. As Mediasite notes, the first tweet they were able to find was posted sometime around or after 9 pm, Sunday night. I’m fairly certain the earliest one I obtained was sent hours after that. In any event, Kanye, watch your back. As for the rest of you, like they say at the VMAs, enjoy the show.
169 comments ↓
WOW! I’m so glad we have you Harry! Thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing this to light…I was so saddened by all of the racism on twitter today…people must realize how hurtful and intolerable this is! Thanks again! 1Love
Damn. It’s days like this that make me wonder how people got past race to elect Obama. (I’m a 19-year-old white male who never thought that we would do that in my lifetime, for the record.)
Scariest in this is that racism is transitioning from blanket xenophobia that labels all black people as n—ers and doesn’t seek to understand anything to a selective, behavior-based distinction between black people and “n—ers” that makes critical observations of those who behave outrageously and then confuses them with a term that has few contexts beyond racial loathing outside of Chris Rock routines.
White people almost never get seen as emblems of their entire race; time and again, minorities are. It’s frustrating, to say the least, that an easy response to a non-racial incident (I think West’s comments were about merit) involving a prominent black person is to deploy ugly racial invective.
Thanks for writing this, Harry.
I don’t agree with what Kanye did he was completely in the wrong. Can we take a look at the MTV politics though. Taylor won Best Female Video, right? Beyonce won video of the Year. Ummm explain that. Her video was the best of the year but not the best female video. lol!
Good to know racism is alive and well.
Marketing always = horrible backlash from the ones too ‘——‘ to realize they are the targeted.
Wow. White people, you embarass me.
Here is some more of the same..
http://twitter.com/Erik_Bauer
I am appalled but not surprised by the recourse of those of limited lexicon to pejorative and demeaning language. One can but pity their limited faculties and move on.
Good for you, Harry. Expose, expose, expose. It may hurt, but damn I think it’s good for everyone in the end to look at the problem in the glaring light of day.
Kanye West is the most stupid, intellegent person I know. I believe everything he said, jus disagree with how he did it. And all these people calling him a nigger, ya’ll are jus as stupid as he is. Don’t die a hater, hell is to pay for it.
The politics of the VMAs are comprised of those that literally work for this entity and “we the people.”
It does not take much for people to show their true colors, no pun intended. So people and employees
continue to be racist and prejudice. That goes for Kanye and all the racist tweets and people that make up what we all understand the VMAs and the music industry to be. It’s a well oiled machine, a monster, a popularity contest that has its one category for every demographic on the planet. While Kanye is pouting
about his lack of acknowledgement transferred through Beyonce, Beyonce is watching her political
connections by keeping it cool between her and Taylor. The Beyonce supper machine that
monopolizes the young black diva category and Taylor Swift: the “All American Girl Next Door
Barbie…Kanye; that dude that always wants to be included with the in crowd, that will never
be satisfied…everybody seems to be playing their rolls well. If it were really about art and cultural
this controversy would not exist. Not saying that the players in this drama lack culture or artistry,
but it’s not the focus or center of what they represent or wish the world to respect them for.
Are those racist comments stupid? Of course, but having 25 or so twitter remarks is hardly evidence that people are mad at Kanye just because they are \racist.\ Especially because they’re were about 25 remarks about last nights incident every 10 seconds on twitter, for the past 24 hours. So 25 out of 100k+ doesn’t seem to signal its just racism.
I for one am neither a racist or a fan of Taylor Swift, but find it extremely obnoxious for a man to go on stage, take the mic during someone’s acceptance speech, to say that someone else was better. So are these people being racist in their remarks? Absolutely. But they don’t represented 99% of why people are angry, and thats because Mr. West is a rude self centered prick who believes his opinion matters more than others. If he was white, I’d be just as angry. \people should be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the merit of their deeds.\ Thats what I did, I judged by the merit of Kanye, and that is why I hate him.
Know what’s funny. Kanye got more punished for dissing a pop singer than Congressman Joe Wilson got for dissing the POTUS.
I wonder… that you have defined racism as white supremacy. I grew up in a neighborhood where I was ridiculed for being white… or “casper” “cracker” “white trash” “powder” etc. I still remember running away from a group of kids that would follow me home every day from school hitting and kicking me… calling ME a racist white person.
When I dated a black guy in highschool, his parents and friends disapproved decidedly because I was white.
Although I understand your outrage (and comments like that make me very angry as well), your pointed opinion could be viewed very much in the same way. A lack of understanding that many (if not most people I know) are actually not racist… would never be caught dead making a racist joke or using racial slurs like that. It’s just… not classy.
However- If people are willing to post things like this openly on the web they should be held accountable… and feel like idiots.
Though I understand the history behind the purity of white women being protected against black men, I don’t buy it in this situation or in this time. Very much of the same language was used concerning Serena Williams’ outburst at the US Open. As you implied above, there is obviously an underlying sense of racism here. Situations such as Kanye’s and Serena’s are simply the perfect opportunity to unleash such thoughts.
You know…. those tweets are racist, undoubtedly and in that you are correct. But how the hell can you sit there and insinuate that they are anything more than stupid people making stupid comments? So a bunch of people on Twitter get pissed off at Kanye West for being a dick, and for lack of anything wittier, they attack his race.
It doesn’t make Kanye West a martyr, and it doesn’t change the jackassery of what he did. And it certainly doesn’t portend to some great and horrible future where the ground runs red with the blood of all the black folk.
Oh and another thing… stop capitalizing the B in black people and leaving the white lowercase….
Frickin’ hypocrite.
Another thing: I cannot believe there are people like you who exist in this day and age. You perpetuate racism yourself…
Call out every white person to exist on the very basis of their skin color then cry racism? Bleh. I cannot believe you actually think you’re helping.
while i dont condone the “timing” of west’s outburst (obviously outburst deems it to be out of place), i will say that the white people and non black people searching for from sort of vindication through bellowing out “racist Nigger this, racist Nigger that” have a race problem of their own to figure out. Apparently they got red heated, and their true colors came out, coloreds. While on another not, most of the believe that it is “cool” to use “nigga” as apart of their daily lingo.
Thank you Harry Allen.
I wish I had words for that. It doesn’t surprise me, but in this day and age. Nothing you say can be taken back. That who you are from jump and you are that way for life.
The
most unreal
real thing I have ever seen!!!
This truly insane and sad….i feel sorry for these people that their minds & lives are narrow and will forever be that unless they free their minds & humble their souls!!
YALL IS A BUNCH OF DUMB WHITE PPL YA’LL JUST as bad as Kanye is , with the name calling. ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
u guys are all going to answer for the BS and the end of your life. Kayne as well, dumb inhumane fools.
at the end of the day Kayne is rich beyonce and taylor swift, you idiots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOW. beware of the false motives of others
Becareful of foes who pretend to be brothers
and you’ll never suppose its those who are closest to you.
the sheet hides many…don’t let it be pulled over YOUR eyes.
This is so damn sad, it is ridiculous. But as the article explicitly states, racism still exists. Unfortunately, these scared white folks are hiding behind the internet. But I tell you this, I double dog dare one of them to call ANY “black person” or “nigger” a nigger to their face. O, and defining nigger does not give them the right to use it! EVER EVER! I would love to see them in the “skreets.” I’d show them a REAL “NIGGER”
wow,i cant belive my eyes!
I couldn’t even finish reading this. It is so so sad. I know he’s wrong but DAMN! It still doesn’t give you the excuse to throw that word around!! – I am so dissappointed.
Thanks for posting these names, Harry. Social media is a powerful tool and it renders the perpetrators directly accessible. Very smart and strategic. I told a few of these people what I think of their spew and I urged my Twitter circle to do the same.
Excellent post Harry…you make a salient point about White Supremacy constantly evolving, shape shifting.
@Ms. C, am I to assume you are suggesting that if a White person calls a black person a ‘nigger’ the black person will physically assault them? That would seem like a poor way to prove them wrong. And it would also suggest that blacks dont have much to fear for attacking White people, even with our supposedly racists justice system.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and believe it or not Kanye is being ridiculed by his own race for his actions. This situation was by no means a matter of race, but a case of sheer and utter disrespect. But the above comments are completely out of line. And for those who said \these 25 comments doesnt mean that there is a problem\ is delusional. There is a problem. It is also a MAJOR PROBLEM when what happened at the VMA’s is getting more of our attention than the lawmaker disrespecting the leader of the free world…his outburst was considered \passion\. If we are gonna talk about it, then lets talk about it. I am tired of America paying more attention to celebrities and what they are wearing and doing than the future of our nation. Get your priorities straight. And I’m going to pray for you America…and myself
I can’t say that I’m at all surprised, nor shocked by any of this. It seems like it happens often enough that maybe I’ve just become numb to it all.
I don’t think it’s a sign of anything that we all aren’t already aware of, and have been aware of. I never bought into this notion of a post-racial America. We’re still very much divided across color lines.
All it takes is something like this to happen, and all that ugliness that lurks underneath the surface emerges! We (black people) are just as guilty. If the roles were reversed, and it was a white man who disrespectfully out-shined a black female star in favor of a white female star, in much the same way last night’s VMAs played out, I think race would certainly color (pun intended) our outrage, and I won’t be surprised to find somewhat similarly ignorant references from black people directed at the white man.
Disappointing? Unfortunate? Certainly yes! Surprising? A sign that there’s still very much a divide across color lines? Definitely. But I think we already knew that.
people in general suck.
only in death do we realize how wrong we lived.
that will not be my problem. don’t make it yours….
You think Twitter is bad look up you tube comments under black artists. To say that is so sad that people still think this way is an understatement, people will always hate on each other. Period. I’d like to think that we would all “get along” but this buried resentment between the two races are too deep. Maybe when our society is ready to remember that we are all built the same way and are one race: human. Clichè, but true.
Damn… Thank you sooo much Harry. This makes one want to vomit but the truth is ALWAYS something that must come to light. This is the America that will pull their children out of school on the day the President of The United States of America intends to plead w/them to stay in school and take personal pride in their education… This IS THAT America!!!! FTW
SMH I was against what K.West did but after readin all of those Tweets I feel like damn I gota side with West people were bringing up the kkk WTF what he did was a straight up Dis but it doesn’t call for anyone to call for his life. As much garbage going on in this world hell just in the US we go crazy over words from some stupid award show with a bunch of rich people who could really careless about there fans.
So intelligent, rational, and capable of many great things as human beings. But yet we sit here and bicker about race and use volatile words against one another. How petty are we as a society. The day I no longer have to deal with this borrowed body and what I am rather than who I am will be a peaceful day. the word “race” is dumb.
wow…just…wow.
The true problem doesn’t lie in the fact that so many have thrown that word around, but in the fact that they don’t continue to not understand why it is wrong to use it. I mean, I completely disagree with the way that Kanye handled himself. It is a disgrace. However, if he were not black, the word nigger would have not been thrown around so liberally.
Its sad that people reserve the right to use the word nigger when they choose, as long as most people agree that the black person involved is in the wrong, and particularly when he has wronged a white woman.
(lets not even get on the lynching comment!)
Other white people can be so embarrassing.
Interesting how racist Kenye West behaved, yet this article seems to give him a free pass, and would like to simply focus on “whites” being racist. I’m sorry – but in my experience, the most racist people I’ve ever met have been black. As far as the “N” word, the only time I hear it, seems to be when it’s coming from a black persons mouth.
The guy that observed that “Kanye got more punished for dissing a pop singer than Congressman Joe Wilson got for dissing the POTUS” is right on target. I mean really, who the hell is this child? I never heard of her until last night! She is NOBODY and in 2 years we will have forgotten her face, songs and everything else about her. It is so strange that few Whites had anything negative to say about Wilson’s antics and he completely disrespected the POTUS! He may not have “snatched” the mike, but the effect was exactly the same. So why is it okay for him to do but not Kanye? Kanye is a very smart, very political man and he was making a statement right back at White America for that Wilson stunt. Sad things have come to this point, but that is exactly why he did what he did.
Racism does not equal white supremacy. That is completely idiotic statement. Being mixed, passing as Black, I can tell you with certainty there are many, many black people who have never experienced racism pointed at them who are extremely racist. No one should get a free pass on being racist, people like you are part of the problem.
This is nothing new. They hide behind anonymity. Pretend to be friends to your face, but call you nigger behind your back. Why couldn’t what Kanye did just be wrong w/o bringing in racism? Because these people were racist before this Kanye ever happened. Like drunks who show their true colors when they’re intoxicated. These people are showing their true colors. Now I will be checking my followers to make sure none of them are following me and vice-versa.
Not trying to be cynical, but I’ve always seen this culture throughout my school life and social life amongst the perceived progressive young set of today. Thank you for culling this gross hypocrisy and bringing it to light.
Reading the above comments, I just want to say that I’m tired of a white person whining that they understand racism and have been a victim of it because they’ve been called a “cracker” or beaten up for being a “honky”. This is an insult to minorities. All of us have been beaten up, and called a spic, nigga, chink etc… Racism is the Latino building the house that he’ll never be able to afford. Racism is the Black person getting a longer jail sentence for smoking crack instead of snorting cocaine. Racism is the Asian person outperforming his White counterpart in the corporate world while never receiving his due recognition or ever being named CEO. Racism is Middle Eastern-Americans being treated like the Japanese-Americans during WWII. Racism is making a race an “Endangered Species” (does anyone personally know a Native American?) So I’m sorry if someone called you a “cracka”, get over it.
Thanks for this article. It’s true, words are the weapons of racism. And I agree, it is not going away. Always been here, always will be here. But no, racism does not exist for the sole purpose of white supremacy. Everybody is racist. Whether they admit it or not, every human has racist bones in their bodies.
This guy has an interesting take on Kanye and the entire MTV VMA experience…
http://xaviernigg.wordpress.com/
I am tweeter myself, and not a fan of either side, but I just want to point out your statement, \Is it legal to urge the murder of another person? Some of these posts call for West to be lynched. All of them refer to West as a ‘nigger.’ \, is a little misleading.
The link you provide above (\and new ones are being added\) searches for posts that contain both \Kanye\ and \nigger\. If you remove the second word and look through posts that aren’t filtered like that, you will see far more people censoring him for being rude and discourteous than for his race.
I won’t deny that there are tons of morons out there that will happily get off on public, slur-filled tirades, but I really believe the majority of people just feel sorry for a kid being publicly humiliated by an apparently drunk music star.
I still don’t understand why Kanye being called a racist. Did he call Taylor a white devil? Nope. Did he say anything bad about her? Nope. He acted dumb and gave praised to his friends wife. It was silly, but people are going way over board.
I agree wholeheartedly with you… Kanye clearly wasnt commenting on Beyonce’s video because she is black and Taylor Swift is white. It was about the video and the fact of the matter is that Beyonce, without a doubt, deserved the “Best Female Video” award along with her “Video of the Year” award… I guarantee wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy more Americans know the lyrics/dance to “Single Ladies” then those that know Taylor Swift’s songs. I definitely think that Kanye should have bit his tongue, but he probably was in shock towards the results and had a little bit of “liquid courage” resulting in his interruption. This was not about race it was about merit, however Kanye is dumb for interrupting her, he clearly wasnt thinking about the consequences of his actions at this point… hopefully people will move past this. Stuff happens. We’re not perfect so people need to quit acting like we are… God Bless.
I was one of the people who left a comment, slandering Kanye West, and while there’s nothing that can actually EXCUSE what I said, I’d like to simply say that I DO apologise, and it’s not my general nature to think/say things of this sort. We ALL say things in anger that we will later regret, and, after issuing MANY apologies, I feel I could safely leave one last, and APOLOGISE to the black community, and even to Kanye West himself.
Racist terms are borne out of a time/place of hate, and should NEVER be used. I AM of this opinion, and ashamed of what I said. Everyone says this in defense of themselves, but I have black friends whom I love dearly, and harbour no hatred for any race group.
I’ve judged, and I’ve been judged, and that’s only fair, in my eyes.
My sincere apologies,
@womanface
Cry me a river. So some people called Kanye West a nigger? Guess he shouldn’t have acted like one, picking on a little white girl like that. (Ooh, how macho. Maybe he’ll beat up a white baby next.)
Newsflash, eternally outraged black “community”: If you can’t stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen.
Like a lot of guys, he was trying to make himself look full of bravado and be the big shot – he obviously has an ego the size of an aircraft carrier.
It was not a race thing for him. It was ego. And self-publicity.
He must have felt stupid – especially when Beyonce Knowles won the Video of the Year Award later.
And he deserved to feel stupid.
Tha race stuf – that is a sad aspect of life. The world is full of ignorant people trying to justify their prejudices at every opportunity.
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