When Abbie Hoffman hijacked the stage forty years ago during The Who's set at Woodstock, even Pete Townshend (who agreed with the cause for which Hoffman had taken the stage) saw it as a violation of his rights as a performer--as an artist. It is generally understood that Hoffman's violation of the sanctity of the stage made his actions inexcusable, even though what he was saying (that ten years in prison is too much time for simple possession of marijuana, and that if the woodstock crowd had rallied around their common causes, they could have actually gotten some changes made) was correct. He was not expressing his opinion, simply the fact that John Sinclair's sentencing was unlawfully egregious, and that political organization was a better way to accomplish things that sitting around and listening to music. If he HAD been expressing his opinion, his actions would have been not only inexcusable, but unforgivable...
...which brings us to kanye west
First, a look at the facts
Taylor Swift-Singer, Songwriter, Composer(sometimes), Guitarist, Pianist
Beyonce Knowles-Singer, Songwriter(sometimes), Dancer
Kanye West-producer, rapper(sort of)
What would've been the public reaction if, at the 2002 Academy Awards, Russell Crowe announced the winner for best actress, gave Halle Berry her award, then shoved her out of the way to tell the crowd that Sissy Spacek was the REAL best actress for "In the Bedroom"? Aside from the fact that Crowe would not have been speaking nonsense (like Kanye was), he would STILL be wrong on multiple levels for speaking out against Halle Berry (or FOR Sissy Spacek) at that moment. What if Julia Roberts had decided to do the very same thing to Denzel during his acceptance speech, declaring that while she was happy for Denzel, Russell Crowe gave "one of the best performances of all-time in "a Beautiful Mind"? She would have been closer to correct than Kanye was, but she would STILL be wrong on several different levels, and she would STILL be boycotted by black communities everywhere. So would Russell Crowe. So IS Michael Richards, though his inappropriate outburst was directed at a group of hecklers, who, no matter their skin color, had it coming. Not to suggest that what Richards' said was excusable (it wasn't), but it wasn't directed at an innocent person, and he didnt say anyhting that was factually untrue (though what he said was despicable). In addition, Michael Richards delivered a legitemate apology, and went further than he had to, making no mention of the fact that the man he insulted was NOT innocent. Kanye West's attack affected ONLY innocent people (namely, Taylor Swift, who'd done nothing but win an award), and he has still yet to take ACTUAL accountability for his actions. Soon after his abhorrent display of arrogance and ignorance, Kanye had one of his aides type out an all-caps "apology" on his blog, an apology which was by no means heartfelt, and then he went on television and promised that he will be taking some time off, blaming his breach of human decency on the fact that his hectic work schecule (he came just short of blaming it on the loss of his mother, Donda, who died while having plastic surgery performed on her breasts, stomach, and thighs by an unlicensed doctor) If there is anything good that can be said about her death, it is this: thank god she passed before having the displeasure of seeing her son embarass himself, his family, his country, and his race, the way that he did this week. In her book, she told the world just how she managed to raise Kanye to be such a humble, successful young man, but as is evident in his way of life and the way she went out, vanity was much more of a priority than humility. Fortunately for Halle Berry and Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and Julia Roberts were given more morally instructive upbringings.
Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon took the stage in 2000 at the Academy Awards and used their time to shed light on the 266 HIV-positive Haitians being detained illegally at guantanamo bay. Much outrage followed, causing Robbins to write a piece for the L.A. Times setting the record straight. In its conclusion, he presents a truly vital truth, when addressing the issue of appropriateness.
Was what we did inappropriate? We think that silence in the face of cruelty is truly inappropriate.
What they said was not opinion-based, it was factual. If they had presented an opinion (like Kanye did), they would have been wrong, and if their opinion was rooted in blind loyalty (like Kanye's was) rather than precise analysis of the facts, they would have been inexcusably wrong. This act must not be written-off as a "slip-up"...it was not. It was a premeditated act of arrogant ethnocentrism, plain and simple. No, I do not believe that the rest of the black population is as self-involved and unintelligent as Kanye is, but that is not up to me to decide. That fact can only be determined by whether or not Kanye West is boycotted by the black community. Stand by him, and you are standing for the xenophobic stupidity that he stands for. Boycott him, and you are proving that I am right in giving you more credit than Kanye does. Even Malcolm X would have blasted Kanye's actions (though Elijah Mohammed--a black supremacist--would have most likely agreed wholeheartedly).
Recently, Serena Williams made headlines for what many are calling a similar stunt, but when actually analyzing the 2 situations, we can clearly see that the two events had almost nothing in common. Serena was reacting to what she believed to be a bad call, a call which jeopardized her chances of wining the U.S. Open. In addition, she, like Richards, offerred a heartfelt apology, whereas Kanye continued his disrespectful rant in the middle of his. It is crucially important to distinguish these outbursts from one another, just as it is equally vital to separate Kanye's recent outburst (which was by no means excusable) from his 2005 outburst in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Declaring that George Bush doesn't care about black people on live television at a Katrina benefit was brilliant, but not because it caused a stir. It was brilliant because he was in the appropriate place, had a RIGHT to be speaking, and had facts supporting his claim. Fast-forward four years to his ripping the microphone out of Taylor Swift's hand to give a shoutout to his employer's wife, at a moment in an awards show HONORING TAYLOR SWIFT, with no RIGHT to be on the mic, and no factual basis for making his ridiculous claim that "beyonce made one of the greatest music videos of all time" (which he later watered down to "this decade", probably after realizing that the ten best videos of all time are all Michael Jackson videos.) so with one idiotic jump onto the stage, Kanye West managed to embarass himself, his dead mother, every black person and american alive, his employer and his employer's wife, as well as spitting in the faces of Taylor Swift and Sumner Redstone (who you do NOT want to spit in the face of, especially if you are in the entertainment industry), and pissing on Michael Jackson's grave. Even President Obama was quited as saying, off the record of course, that Kanye West is a "jackass".
What Serena Williams did, and what Christian Bale did, for that matter, is absolutely forgivable, in fact a good case could be made that Bale's outburst was actually excusable, though Williams' was not (only because she was on the court in front of thousands of fans, many of whom were child, whereas if your kid heard an unedited tape the Christian Bale rant, it's becasue you played it for them). Even if Bale's tirade had beenas bad as Kanye's, Christian Bale is one of the most dedicated actors in Hollywood, whereas Kanye west is a second-class P.Diddy, at best. It is not unfair of us to hold them to different standards, but in this case, we don't need to. We don't need to take Kanye's hypocrisy (releasing "diamonds from sierra leone" but not boycotting diamonds?) into account when determining that he is not deserving of another second on television, or another dollar in his pocket. We though he was an egomaniac before, but now we know what he really is: a megalomaniac, just like Adolf Hitler and George W. Bush. Looks like it's kanye west who "doesnt care about black people", because before he jumped on stage, if a closed-minded white american wanted to see what a black man looked (and acted) like, all he had to do was turn on the news and look at the president (which would make him realize that black people are as capable--if not more capable--of achieving great success while maintaining their humility). Now, with a scarily large chunk of our country exposing their true white supremacist colors, Kanye's moronic actions will do the same thing for Black America that the A.L.F. does for the animal rights movement: make them look like fools. Beyonce did the right thing by inviting Taylor Swift on stage later that night, but unless she and her husband sever ALL TIES with Kanye West, they are standing by his words. You can either be a proponent of something, or an opponent. Neutrality is an illusion. So far, Kelly Clarkson and Pink are the only artists that have proven their humility and decency by going on the record and telling it how it is. Remember how long Janet Jackson was demonized because Justin Timberlake disrobed her? Remember how long we talked about Don Imus? Remember the Dixie Chicks controversy? Remember when Sinead O'connor on SNL? Well, she was RIGHT (as we would later learn, but never fully acknowledge), the Catholic Church WAS functioning as more of a child prostitution ring than a religious establishment, and if child molestation is bad, than the leader of this network (pope joh paul II) was, in fact, the real enemy. Of course, if you do not oppose child molestation, than he would be no enemy of yours, just as if you do not oppose xenophobia, you have no reason to speak out against Kanye, but if you do...you do.
Sumner Redstone, YOU have a responsibility to blacklist Kanye West (and i'm not talking about honoring him during black history month). If he EVER appears on ANY of your networks, you will thereby be an agent of his megalomania (goebbels to his hitler, if you will), and equally responsible for any damage done by him. We have allowed Kanye West to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. He recorded thirty-something somgs telling us how great he is, and all of a sudden we agree with him (even though he has NEVER produced so much as an undeniably evocative lyric). He is the guy that made the beats for "lucifer" and "the truth". He calls himself a rapper, but everytime he's on a track with somebody else, he wind up sounding like an amateur. The only reason we know his name is because he made a couple of beats for Jay-z and survived a car crash, so let's do the right thing and forget that we ever took him seriously. His legacy will be a south park episode.
There is one recent display of xenophobic stupidity that IS worse than Kanye's VMA debacle, and that is, of course, Joe Wilson's blindly bigoted outburst during President Obama's reading of "health care for dummies" to the U.S. Congress. Let us never forget. We must boycott the one, and impeach the other...or accept that we agree with mr. west and mr. wilson.