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ismnotwasm

(41,919 posts)
Wed May 2, 2018, 03:58 PM May 2018

How Non-Black People Can Talk About Kanye While Staying in their Lane

Well worth the read—for those still engaged in learning about racial discussions, and if you haven’t followed that hashtag you are missing out. I’m dying.

As the entirety of the internet seems to be discussing Kanye West’s most recent asshattery and all of black twitter seems to be heartily enjoying #IfSlaveryWasAChoice shenanegans, you, a concerned non-black person may be wondering…how do I join in this discussion?

Maybe you were a big fan of Kanye’s music and now you feel personally let down by how hard he’s trying to be the absolute worst.

Maybe you are a decent human who recognizes that Trump and his administration are hateful trashmonsters working diligently to make marginalized populations (and like, half of the global population) more unsafe and you are concerned to see a high profile music idol sing his praises to the delight of countless racist trolls.

Maybe you have read a book or two in your life or have a shred of empathy or are not completely drowning in anti-blackness - or due to being a human being walking around in the world you able to guess that 99.9% of humans do not like being dragged across the world in chains, bought and sold, tortured their entire lives, forced to work for free, starved, raped, and murdered - and have realized that black people were most likely not slaves by choice.

https://medium.com/IjeomaOluo/how-non-black-people-can-talk-about-kanye-while-staying-in-their-lane-cb34b05fc84e
39 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
How Non-Black People Can Talk About Kanye While Staying in their Lane (Original Post) ismnotwasm May 2018 OP
I know exactly how Bok_Tukalo May 2018 #1
+1 50 Shades Of Blue May 2018 #3
This message was self-deleted by its author NCTraveler May 2018 #4
God forbid you're thoughtful? What could be worse than to see someone else's side.... bettyellen May 2018 #6
And you could lean from the poster that we all are not one size fits all wasupaloopa May 2018 #17
No one is arguing all white people are alike, LOL. Now POC, however..... bettyellen May 2018 #27
Did you actually think before your wrote this? EffieBlack May 2018 #29
You you ever have anything worth while to say or do you just insult people? wasupaloopa May 2018 #35
Effie has many worthwhile things to say kwassa May 2018 #36
That's pretty funny. EffieBlack May 2018 #38
It's both your depth of context and breadth of nuance that first catches the eye. LanternWaste May 2018 #7
I try to make my point in one sentence or less. Bok_Tukalo May 2018 #9
How about a flawed sentences and weak point? NCTraveler May 2018 #23
That ususally takes two sentences Bok_Tukalo May 2018 #25
Sorry you failed to meet your own standards. Nt NCTraveler May 2018 #28
White privilege comes out eventually, doesnt it Eliot Rosewater May 2018 #26
A point with no support. kwassa May 2018 #37
Thus my disclaimer. ismnotwasm May 2018 #21
Can you link directly to the article? NCTraveler May 2018 #2
I'm not sure it's possible to link directly to Medium kcr May 2018 #10
Best Advice Blue_Adept May 2018 #13
Thanks. I'm not the OP, just being silly kcr May 2018 #14
thanks. salin May 2018 #15
Remove the extraneous @ sign In the URL for a direct link. nt tblue37 May 2018 #19
Example: tblue37 May 2018 #22
Thanks kcr May 2018 #24
Sorry fixed it! ismnotwasm May 2018 #20
I tend to concur with the gentleman in the link below. dawg May 2018 #5
+1 Behind the Aegis May 2018 #8
He's an idiot. Behind the Aegis May 2018 #11
Well said. milestogo May 2018 #32
I tend not to care one shit MyNameGoesHere May 2018 #12
EXCELLENT article. Thanks for posting it -- AND encouraging people actually read it. RandomAccess May 2018 #16
he's a JACKASS rollin74 May 2018 #18
Really, any way we see fit Sailor65x1 May 2018 #30
Jesus ismnotwasm May 2018 #31
"Kanye has always been an idiot and associated with other idiots." misanthrope May 2018 #33
This is so, so important. K&R. WhiskeyGrinder May 2018 #34
Direct from my "idiots" folder ProudLib72 May 2018 #39

Response to Bok_Tukalo (Reply #1)

 

bettyellen

(47,209 posts)
6. God forbid you're thoughtful? What could be worse than to see someone else's side....
Wed May 2, 2018, 04:11 PM
May 2018

Last edited Wed May 2, 2018, 05:00 PM - Edit history (1)

Or worse, learn from others!

 

wasupaloopa

(4,516 posts)
17. And you could lean from the poster that we all are not one size fits all
Wed May 2, 2018, 05:19 PM
May 2018

See below, supposedly President Obama thinks he is a jackass.


Conformity sucks some times.

 

bettyellen

(47,209 posts)
27. No one is arguing all white people are alike, LOL. Now POC, however.....
Wed May 2, 2018, 05:36 PM
May 2018

That shit still goes on. I know many would LOVE to make a false equivalence about white people, though. Some people argue that shit all day long.

 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
7. It's both your depth of context and breadth of nuance that first catches the eye.
Wed May 2, 2018, 04:11 PM
May 2018

It's both your depth of context and breadth of nuance that first catches the eye.

While others may lazily meter out simply a shallow bumper-sticker to avoid actual thought, you provide us with a largesse of all the wit and wisdom you posses.

 

NCTraveler

(30,481 posts)
23. How about a flawed sentences and weak point?
Wed May 2, 2018, 05:31 PM
May 2018

Brevity is often best combined with clarity and accuracy.

kcr

(15,300 posts)
10. I'm not sure it's possible to link directly to Medium
Wed May 2, 2018, 04:15 PM
May 2018

I've never seen a working link to Medium in the wild.

kcr

(15,300 posts)
14. Thanks. I'm not the OP, just being silly
Wed May 2, 2018, 04:38 PM
May 2018

Medium's design and business model annoy me a little bit. You'd think they'd want to make it easy to link to.

Behind the Aegis

(53,831 posts)
11. He's an idiot.
Wed May 2, 2018, 04:15 PM
May 2018

Every group has them. I have run across Jews who blather on about how they would have never been taken to a death camp because they would have fought back, and the Jews were just sheep. These types of comments are ahistorical and just ignorant, just like West's.

 

MyNameGoesHere

(7,638 posts)
12. I tend not to care one shit
Wed May 2, 2018, 04:21 PM
May 2018

For tRump supporters period. I wouldn't need to talk to any tRump supporter, or as I call them, traitors.

 

Sailor65x1

(554 posts)
30. Really, any way we see fit
Wed May 2, 2018, 06:33 PM
May 2018

I won't tell another man what he can express or to whom, and won't suffer to be "Laned" by one. Neither should anyone else tolerate such. Kanye has always been an idiot and associated with other idiots. If I recall correctly, President Obama thought so also. And I'm fairly certain HE would not be telling anyone who can talk about it and who can't. That sounds more like the current occupant to me; and that's a growing parallel.

These kinds of articles remind me of a line from a book; "Now will scholarship's imbeciles have their day..."

Only it's been a lot of days. So many days....

ismnotwasm

(41,919 posts)
31. Jesus
Wed May 2, 2018, 07:57 PM
May 2018

From the article;

First off, why do we need lanes? I hear some of you right now — “Isn’t it all of our duty to call out absolutely everything?” “Oh so I’m white and suddenly my opinion doesn’t count?” “Aren’t lanes divisive?” “Do you hate freedom of speech?” In short, my answers are: “No”, “Yes”, “No”, and “Read the Goddamn First Amendment So You Stop Looking Like An Ass.” But let’s dive slightly deeper.

If you are concerned by what Kanye is saying, I’m going to assume that it is at least in part because you are concerned with the hate, bigotry, and oppression of the Trump administration that Kanye’s supporting, or the massive amount of anti-blackness that Kanye is spouting when he claims that black people were slaves by choice. If either of these are true, then you should also be concerned about the power structure of systems of race and the anti-blackness that permeates our society and enables Trump and infects Kanye. This means, that even when you are discussing how universally shitty Kanye is being, you are also discussing a black man as a non-black person, and the way you do so can contribute to anti-blackness in a way that you may not intend, but will still be very responsible for.

There are people who will love to see you tear down Kanye, not because what he’s saying is absolute trash, but because he’s a black man. There are plenty of people who will love your comments about Kanye, not because they address Kanye’s absolute dedication to selfishness and ignorance, but because they feel the same way about all black people.

misanthrope

(7,405 posts)
33. "Kanye has always been an idiot and associated with other idiots."
Wed May 2, 2018, 08:00 PM
May 2018

One look at his in-laws confirms that.

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