By Wanique Block
Sigh. Rapper Kanye West is back at it again!
To many, Kanye West is the creative genius who has broken down the barriers of the fashion and music industries respectively, but to others, he is a bigoted bully who is deeply committed to misogynoir (prejudice and dislike of Black women), toxic masculinity and anti-blackness. Not to mention, overtly using his power to profit off the pain and struggles of Black people.
Kanye has proven time and time again that he doesn’t care about the Black community at large. Unless it serves him.
We’ve seen this when Kanye blatantly said that slavery was “a choice”, again when he showed his support for former US President Donald Trump, and more recently we’ve seen this with the release of his new YZY collection which featured “White Lives Matter” T-shirts.
In addition to his latest scandal, Kanye also shared his thoughts on how the Black Lives Matter movement was a scam.
“Everyone knows that Black Lives Matter was a scam, Now it’s over. You’re welcome”, Kanye posted to his Instagram story.
The Black Lives Matter movement is more than just a hashtag, this movement seeks to highlight issues of racism, discrimination more specifically protesting against police brutality and racially motivated acts of violence against Black people.
So when someone as powerful as Kanye discredits the movement as a whole, he validates white supremacy and diminishes the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement.
That said, Kanye’s obsession with the white gaze is not only very problematic but extremely detrimental to the community that has and still continues to support him throughout his career.
This is even more disappointing when Kanye only uses the Black community for his own convenience. This was evident when he shared how the mother of his children allegedly refused to let him, a “Black father” see his children. Again with his on-going battle with athletic brand Adidas, where he rallied for Black voices to support him.
And yes I am aware that Kanye suffers from Bipolar Disorder, but that shouldn’t be used to justify or condone his toxic behaviour, they’re not related! Anti-blackness is not a mental illness diagnosis.
In the wise words of Ruth Samuel, a culture writer for HuffPost, “Anti-Blackness is not a comorbidity associated with bipolar disorders and/or neurodivergence! They are wholly unrelated”.
So where do we draw the line with condoning and enabling the toxic behaviour of a so called “genius”?
Read Next: Kim Kardashian launches True Crime podcast “The System”



