Rapper Kanye West, who people are apparently calling “Ye” now, has for the majority of his career been particularly skillful at drudging up public outrage. It’s nothing new. The first opinion piece I ever had published in my college newspaper was in fact about Kanye West’s high opinion of himself. Having gone on to become a professional writer, however, I just haven’t found it necessary to write about the man who was once a huge point of pride for Chicagoans.
The last time I wrote about Ye was in 2020 when he hinted at a possible presidential bid, and after writing that piece, I felt like I had taken cheap shots at someone going through an apparent mental health crisis. I vowed never to do that again, if I could help it. But avoiding all discussion of Kanye West is not the best approach either, according to mental health experts cited in USA Today.
RELATED STORY: 'Don't fall for this stunt': Kanye West's presidential bid dismissed by some as ploy for Trump
They made the point that although West has publicly discussed being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and the disorder can trigger "aberrant behavior" that may not reflect a person's moral values, it can also cause the person having an episode to reveal opinions they would otherwise suppress.
"We want to recognize that this person may have their own very strong beliefs on religion or politics, and we want to call that out as being separate from the mental health diagnosis," clinical psychologist Carla Manly told USA Today. "There are many people who don't have mental health issues who are racist and bigoted. And there are people with mental health issues who are not racist or bigoted. We want to see those as two very different issues."
Andrea Bonior, another clinical psychologist, told USA Today: "If we assume that every person with mental health issues is racist, that does them a disservice and increases the stigma, which ultimately keeps people from getting help. And if we assume that every person who spouts off bigoted beliefs has a mental illness, we are turning our backs on the cultural changes that we need to address in terms of implicit bias."
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So I’m going to make a vital distinction between criticizing the behavior and condemning the person. I can not in good conscience condemn Kanye West, but I absolutely am condemning his behavior.
West wore matching T-shirts centering the white supremacist phrase "White Lives Matter" alongside conservative troll Candace Owens at his Paris fashion show last Monday. In an appearance on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight last week, West also called singer Lizzo's weight loss journey "demonic."
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And even more recently, one of West’s tweets had to be removed for violating Twitter's policy banning “violence, harassment and other similar types of behavior discourage people from expressing themselves.” In the antisemitic tweet, West said he was going to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” and claimed he “can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew.”
That is simply unacceptable, and there is no shortage of high-profile figures pointing it out as such.
“The holiest day in Judaism was last week,” actress Jamie Lee Curtis tweeted. “Words matter. A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide. You are a father. Please stop.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) tweeted: "The behavior exhibited this week by @kanyewest is deeply troubling, dangerous, and antisemitic, period. There is no excuse for his propagating of white supremacist slogans and classic #antisemitism about Jewish power, especially with the platform he has."
That is the point of writing about Kanye West. His words and actions reach people in ways that may have horrific implications. His words and actions must be condemned.
Comedian Sarah Silverman called for such condemnation in a tweet. “Why do mostly only Jews speak up against Jewish hate? The silence is so loud,” the comedian wrote.
That accusation, however, was a bit too far for me.
As one of our own community contributors pointed out from his Twitter account @Dopper0189, many Black Twitter users have been condemning West’s behavior for years. “Please call out exactly WHO are SILENT,” he told Silverman.
“That part,” actress Holly Robinson Peete responded.
Silverman ended up clarifying that she was talking about white people in the kind of tangent that simply served as a distraction amid a vital public discussion.
In full transparency, I in no way plan to report on every negative action Kanye West takes, or his latest song and dance in the GOP circus. But sometimes he casually shares highly offensive and dangerous rhetoric with hundreds of thousands of onlookers (he has 31.4 million Twitter followers). We cannot ignore that.
The last time I wrote about Ye was in 2020 when he hinted at a possible presidential bid, and after writing that piece, I felt like I had taken cheap shots at someone going through an apparent mental health crisis. I vowed never to do that again, if I could help it. But avoiding all discussion of Kanye West is not the best approach either, according to mental health experts cited in USA Today.
RELATED STORY: 'Don't fall for this stunt': Kanye West's presidential bid dismissed by some as ploy for Trump
They made the point that although West has publicly discussed being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and the disorder can trigger "aberrant behavior" that may not reflect a person's moral values, it can also cause the person having an episode to reveal opinions they would otherwise suppress.
"We want to recognize that this person may have their own very strong beliefs on religion or politics, and we want to call that out as being separate from the mental health diagnosis," clinical psychologist Carla Manly told USA Today. "There are many people who don't have mental health issues who are racist and bigoted. And there are people with mental health issues who are not racist or bigoted. We want to see those as two very different issues."
Andrea Bonior, another clinical psychologist, told USA Today: "If we assume that every person with mental health issues is racist, that does them a disservice and increases the stigma, which ultimately keeps people from getting help. And if we assume that every person who spouts off bigoted beliefs has a mental illness, we are turning our backs on the cultural changes that we need to address in terms of implicit bias."
YouTube Video
So I’m going to make a vital distinction between criticizing the behavior and condemning the person. I can not in good conscience condemn Kanye West, but I absolutely am condemning his behavior.
West wore matching T-shirts centering the white supremacist phrase "White Lives Matter" alongside conservative troll Candace Owens at his Paris fashion show last Monday. In an appearance on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight last week, West also called singer Lizzo's weight loss journey "demonic."
YouTube Video
And even more recently, one of West’s tweets had to be removed for violating Twitter's policy banning “violence, harassment and other similar types of behavior discourage people from expressing themselves.” In the antisemitic tweet, West said he was going to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” and claimed he “can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew.”
That is simply unacceptable, and there is no shortage of high-profile figures pointing it out as such.
“The holiest day in Judaism was last week,” actress Jamie Lee Curtis tweeted. “Words matter. A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide. You are a father. Please stop.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) tweeted: "The behavior exhibited this week by @kanyewest is deeply troubling, dangerous, and antisemitic, period. There is no excuse for his propagating of white supremacist slogans and classic #antisemitism about Jewish power, especially with the platform he has."
That is the point of writing about Kanye West. His words and actions reach people in ways that may have horrific implications. His words and actions must be condemned.
Comedian Sarah Silverman called for such condemnation in a tweet. “Why do mostly only Jews speak up against Jewish hate? The silence is so loud,” the comedian wrote.
That accusation, however, was a bit too far for me.
As one of our own community contributors pointed out from his Twitter account @Dopper0189, many Black Twitter users have been condemning West’s behavior for years. “Please call out exactly WHO are SILENT,” he told Silverman.
“That part,” actress Holly Robinson Peete responded.
Sarah Silverman is whitesplaning her tweets. It’s grotesque. pic.twitter.com/6PfxLIGeB9
— The Chanteezy Is Real️ (@iamchanteezy) October 11, 2022
Silverman ended up clarifying that she was talking about white people in the kind of tangent that simply served as a distraction amid a vital public discussion.
In full transparency, I in no way plan to report on every negative action Kanye West takes, or his latest song and dance in the GOP circus. But sometimes he casually shares highly offensive and dangerous rhetoric with hundreds of thousands of onlookers (he has 31.4 million Twitter followers). We cannot ignore that.