I was never an avid listener of Kanye West’s music, and I did not go out of my way to buy his albums.
I’d listen to CDs made for me by friends that happened to have his songs “Graduation Day” or “Jesus Walks” on them. “Late Registration” came out the same year I was set to graduate from high school.
That same year, Hurricane Katrina would devastate the Louisiana coastline, killing over a thousand and displacing many families, the majority of which were Black people.
A few weeks later, Kanye West, now known as Ye, would proclaim on live television that President George W. Bush did not care about Black people.
West’s statement, at that time, was considered inconsiderate and crass and, of course, was edited out for the later showing of the benefit concert supporting Katrina victims. But it could not be edited out of history.
This would not be the last time West would say or do something unpredictable on live television or on social media; it became the standard for creating a platform.
Despite the truth in his words that day in 2005, it is ironic to think that 17 years ago West’s mostly true exclamation would be considered crass.
The more unpredictable and controversial his statements and tweets were, the less interest I had in supporting him as an artist or listening to his music. And that was typically met with excuses and dismissive claims of “it’s just for press” from fans coming to his defense.
This was the excuse when he interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards and when he blamed enslaved people for chattel slavery.
In one of Kanye’s more recent financial moves, he founded a church that is, as of summer 2021, a tax-exempt entity.
And whether you want to recognize it as a legitimate faith space or not, it is beyond time to stop making excuses for his hate speech, or any such speech coming from rich men who find themselves with platforms built on some talent and a fan base that largely chooses to stay silent.
Last week, West made antisemitic statements on Twitter, and while there was backlash, it was not enough. It is never enough. It took a week for major companies such as Instagram, Twitter, Balenciaga, Gap, and Adidas to cut ties with West. Only now, but not after his comments about chattel slavery in America.
Seventeen years after his statement about then President Bush, have we given him and people with power a free pass to make crass and hurtful statements?
Watching what the media and we consider inappropriate talk has given me pause at our trajectory for true reform if we are unwilling to condemn true hate speech.
In the wake of faith leaders and people of faith combating Christian Nationalism, it is not enough to dismiss these comments because we do not consider West a “legitimate” leader or someone serious enough to pay any heed.
Ye runs a tax-exempt church and a private, faith-based school, he has undertaken two failed presidential campaigns and may purchase the right-wing social media platform Parler. Such actions speak louder than any excuse that it’s all just for show.
His statements should be enough to tell us that Christian Nationalism is not a slow-leaking gas making its way through the fringes of society, but one that is coming from people and leaders with influence, selling shirts on campaign websites taking pride in Christian Nationalism.
Dismissing hate speech from high-profile influencers or claiming they were “only joking” does nothing more than build their base.
That is how we end up with neo-Nazis boldly hanging banners filled with hate speech over highways and failed businessmen running for president on anti-immigrant talking points with a majority of evangelicals backing him and insurrectionists storming the capitol while waving Christian flags.
To be clear, I am asking my siblings of Christian faith to “gird their loins” and push back on the rules of civility made up by those who refuse to shift the conversation away from the status quo. We must question why civility permits some to get away with their actions while others are punished.
Who are we serving when the “common ground” we attempt to find continues to move along with the standard of “acceptable” speech? And who gets to decide what is acceptable and what is not?
I’m afraid we will end up at the top of the pyramid of hate with each pass we give to those who have the power and resources to redefine hate in their favor.
With every listen, download, excuse, quoted tweet or head shake at their antics, we choose to side with oppressors and bullies. Do not turn the other cheek, friends. Flip the tables.
Virginia State Field Organizer at National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice and Pastor of Spiritual Formation at Commonwealth Baptist Church.
