The Twisted Logic Consultant for Jim Derogatis takes a break before
faxing a press release exposing how President George W. Bush personally
set the explosive charges that blew huge holes in the New Orleans levees.
Posted on 09/05/2005 7:52:32 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
Context is required to understand Kanye West's latest outburst -- criticizing President Bush on national TV during telethon
Kanye West's outspoken criticism of President Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina has become one of the most controversial statements by a popular musician since Sinead O'Connor tore up a picture of the pope on "Saturday Night Live" in 1992.
Like that incident, in which the Irish singer actually was making a complicated critique of the Catholic Church based on the teachings of the Rastafarian religion, the Chicago-born rapper's unscripted comments on live TV were no ill-considered outburst -- and they can't be understood divorced from the context of West's work.
A week after being hailed as "the smartest man in pop music" on the cover of Time magazine, and four days after the release of his second album "Late Registration," which is expected to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart tomorrow with sales of nearly a million copies, West appeared beside comedian Mike Myers as one of several entertainers who urged Americans to donate to relief efforts during a telethon broadcast live on NBC and its affiliated networks Friday night.
West did not perform, nor did he deliver the statement that had been written for him, which visibly shocked Myers. Instead, in a nervous and emotional voice, the 28-year-old rapper first criticized the media's portrayal of African Americans in the devastated city of New Orleans and the warnings issued by President Bush and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco that looters would be shot on sight.
"I hate the way they portray us in the media," West said. "If you see a black family, it says they're looting. See a white family, it says they're looking for food. ... They've given them permission to go down and shoot us."
As Myers returned to the script, West added another impromptu and even more incendiary line -- "George Bush doesn't care about black people" -- before the network quickly cut to comedian Chris Tucker. That line aired live on the East Coast, but was cut from West Coast broadcasts.
"Nobody, especially the president, would have left people unattended on the basis of race," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the administration's highest-ranking African American, said on Sunday while touring damage in her home state of Alabama.
NBC started distancing itself from West minutes after his appearance. Telethon host Matt Lauer noted that "emotions in this country right now are running very high. ... We've heard some [criticism] tonight, but it's still part of the American way of life."
The network later issued a statement, saying, "It would be most unfortunate if the efforts of the artists who participated tonight and the generosity of millions of Americans who are helping those in need are overshadowed by one person's opinion." But West's view that the federal government is set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible" is not merely one person's opinion.
Many prominent commentators and newspaper editorialists have made similar charges since Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast. In an article Sunday criticizing NBC's decision to "censor" West's comments, the Los Angeles Times noted, "You can be sure those remarks would have been cheered more than anything else in the program by the black parents and children still trapped in the New Orleans Convention Center."
Nor was West the only performer on "A Concert for Hurricane Relief" to make such a criticism, although others were more veiled. Another African-American performer and a resident of New Orleans, Aaron Neville, performed Randy Newman's soulful ballad "Louisiana 1927," which includes the haunting chorus, "They're trying to wash us away."
But with his comments on Friday, West emerged as its new political firebrand, with a larger audience and more access to the mainstream than any rapper since Public Enemy's Chuck D, who declared in the late '80s that rap music "is the black CNN."
Like Chuck D, West grew up in a middle-class family that did not turn its back on the harsh realities of life in the ghetto but viewed political action and education as the paths to reform. His mother, Donda West, recently retired as chairwoman of the English Department at Chicago State University. His father, Ray West, is a former Black Panther active in the South Shore neighborhood, now serving as a Christian marriage counselor.
Unlike Public Enemy, which was famously criticized for embracing some of the anti-Semitic views of the Nation of Islam, West's beliefs reflect those of millions of mainstream Americans strong on family values, the merits of hard work and Christian teachings. Indeed, the message of "Jesus Walks," the phenomenal hit from his 2004 album "The College Dropout," is that anything is possible with the help of Christ, a theme that allies him with many of Bush's core supporters.
But Friday, West's statements were much closer to those being made by critics of the Bush administration from across the racial and political spectra. And while he is being criticized by many on the right -- and will no doubt pay a price with some lost album sales and less radio play in more conservative markets -- he did Americans a service by putting the issue on the table for national debate.
Perhaps the most striking evidence of this came on Sunday during CNN's "Late Edition" when host Wolf Blitzer quoted West when asking Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson whether the response to Hurricane Katrina has been racist. Thompson, a Democrat, said the government had failed and "someone has to be held accountable." He cited the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.
The most revealing part of the exchange, however, was the fact that Thompson mistook the comments from West as a statement from Princeton University professor, theologian, author and activist Dr. Cornel West. In one fell swoop, the rapper and college dropout has earned a place in the front ranks of this country's best-known and most respected African-American activists.
Contributing: AP
mailto:jderogatis@suntimes.com
Context to understand? I don't think so! This was not the time nor the place to protest the president or anyone else. The goal was to raise money to help the victims of the disaster.
West took it on himself to be an idiot.
There is no context necessary to understand that.
Done.
In other words, he is just another multi-millionaire poseur mouthing the party line of other limousine liberal blacks. Wonderful. Because "millions" think as he does, that makes it proper to say? What about the millions of anti-Semites, homophobes, US-haters? Should they all have their "moment" on national tv, too?
I guess if I was a little more "nuanced" or enlightend, I would understand the "context" of Wests comments. As I am not, I am operating under the assumption that West is just another Jesse Jackson-using race to blame others. Except in this case, West admits he is dropout, Jackson never will..
""I hate the way they portray us in the media," West said. "If you see a black family, it says they're looting. See a white family, it says they're looking for food. ... They've given them permission to go down and shoot us.""
This is a load of crap.
There were 2 different AP photos, one labelled "looting" one labeled "looking for food."
They weren't part of the same article or any such rubbish.
They were just part of the days AP photos.
Each caption was written by the photographer... and each photo was taken by a different person.
Since the photographers witnessed each group independently, they made the judgement about what word to use independently of each other.
To suggest some kind of collusion is just madness.
Kanye is "the smartest man in pop music" as much as Hitlary is the smartes woman in the world...
That's not "distancing". It's tacit approval. West's comment was disgusting and there is no "context" that could be claimed that could change it.
"How about: "West is a sub-moron, and makes music that would only appeal to sub-morons." Hmm. Understanding is coming at last..."
Bravo!
I take his pronouncements as seriously as I do Barbara Streisand's pontifications.
"I hate the way they portray us in the media," West said. "If you see a black family, it says they're looting. See a white family, it says they're looking for food. ... They've given them permission to go down and shoot us."
Oh Kanye, don't think of it that way... Think of it as they revoked your permission to steal goods not essential for your survival.
There have been many posters, myself among them, that can understand the need for food, water, baby food, diapers... In a blue sky world, folks wouldn't have to resort to that, but I can absolutely understand it... However Kanye, since when are 7 boxes of Nikes necessary for survival? I suppose that would fall under clothing, one pair for every day of the week? Oh I know Kanye(sarcasm), humans can't go more than 8 or 9 days with having DVD Players to drink... And, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you may have to inform the gentleman in one of the pics going around that a garbage pail of Heineken doesn't fall under one of the main "food groups"... THAT, my gangsta-wannabe friend is LOOTING!!!
I hate opening my computer and seeing whining, liberal brains leaking all over the screen.
And why is the Chicago Sun-Times wasting money on a pop music critic when the money could be better spent hiring a PI to track Daly's excursions to pick up graft money.
West and Mike Myers had been paired up to appear about halfway through the show. Their assignment: Take turns reading a script describing the breach in the levees around New Orleans.
Myers: The landscape of the city has changed dramatically, tragically and perhaps irreversibly. There is now over 25 feet of water where there was once city streets and thriving neighborhoods.
(Myers throws to West, who looked extremely nervous in his super-preppy designer rugby shirt and white pants, which is not like the arrogant West and which, in retrospect, should have been a tip-off.)
West: I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, "They're looting." You see a white family, it says, "They're looking for food." And, you know, it's been five days [waiting for federal help] because most of the people are black. And even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite because I've tried to turn away from the TV because it's too hard to watch. I've even been shopping before even giving a donation, so now I'm calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give, and just to imagine if I was down there, and those are my people down there. So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help -- with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible. I mean, the Red Cross is doing everything they can. We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way -- and they've given them permission to go down and shoot us!
(West throws back to Myers, who is looking like a guy who stopped on the tarmac to tie his shoe and got hit in the back with the 8:30 to La Guardia.)
Myers: And subtle, but in many ways even more profoundly devastating, is the lasting damage to the survivors' will to rebuild and remain in the area. The destruction of the spirit of the people of southern Louisiana and Mississippi may end up being the most tragic loss of all.
(And, because Myers is apparently as dumb as his Alfalfa hair, he throws it back to West.)
West: George Bush doesn't care about black people!
(Back to Myers, now looking like the 8:30 to La Guardia turned around and caught him square between the eyes.)
Myers: Please call . . .
At which point someone at NBC News finally regained control of the joystick and cut over to Chris Tucker . . .
Sorry Jim. You can play ignorant all you want while being a "music critic" but VERY FEW people had even heard of this moron before his out-of-context "outburst" for the Red Cross. Now, everyone knows who his is. That out-of-context "outburst" was about CD sales. Nothing more. CD sales Jimmy boy. Money. $$$$$$$$$$$$$.
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