Chance the Rapper has apologized for lending air support to Kanye West, who was coming under fire for tweeting that he loved Donald Trump.
“Black people don’t have to be democrats,” Chance tweeted earlier this week. In response, woke Internet types lost their minds and even accused Chance of enabling racism. After days of blowback, Chance tweeted a lengthy statement apologizing for the seven words that triggered so many.
My fault yo pic.twitter.com/TIWhG8o1ST
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) April 27, 2018
“Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about my city and my loved ones,” Chance wrote. “Kanye West is not just a mentor or big brother to me. He’s my family.”
“I didn’t speak up because I agreed with what Kanye had to say or cause I f*** with Trump,” he wrote. “I did it because I wanted to help my friend and cause I felt like I was being used to attack him. Unfortunately, my attempt to support Kanye is being used to discredit my brothers and sisters in the movement and I can’t sit by and let that happen either. I’d never support someone who’d talk about Chicago as if it’s hell on earth and then take steps to make life harder for the disenfranchised among us.”
He doubled down on the fact that Democratic leaders in Chicago have not helped alleviate the violence and poverty that plagues many of its residents.
“My statement about black folk not having to be democrats (though true) was a deflection from the real conversation and stemmed from a personal issue with the fact that Chicago has had generations of democratic officials with no investment or regard for black schools, neighborhoods, or black lives.”
“We have to talk honestly about what is happening and has been happening in this country and we have to challenge those who are responsible, as well as those who are giving them a pass,” the rapper concluded. “If that happens to include I love, someone who is my brother-in-Christ and someone who I believe does really want to do what is right, it’s not my job to defend or protect him. It’s my job [to] pick up the phone and talk to him about it.”