The “Real Haters” or Old School Critique?

Teddy KGB says:

Wow, once again Kanye West says something inappropriate in the public’s eye that will haunt him for a while. During the VMA’s and in the middle of Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech, Kanye West gets on stage cuts Taylor Swift off and says that Beyonce had one of the best music videos of all time. Ok, it is fine to think that, but it is not OK for him to interrupt an acceptance speed to speak his mind. We have all heard him speak his mind against George Bush already, and everybody knows how that turned out. Anyway, the day after the VMA’s he goes on TV and apologizes, and on his blog he said he was drunk during the show.
Now everybody is taking this as a big race issue, since Kanye, a black rapper from the inner city, interrupted Taylor Swift, a white country girl from the middle of PA. Since the VMA’s happened, the public is beginning to remember his statement about George Bush. Kanye said that George Bush “does not care about black people”. This is why he is being considered a racist came up on twitter seconds after the mess on the VMA’s. I personally do not see this as a race issue, but just Kanye West being his normal arrogant self. If he said he was drinking during the show, I can totally believe that he would be upset when one of his good friends, Beyonce, did not win best music video (I was actually pretty surprised that Beyonce did not win either). This is why I believe that the racist comments are unnecessary and people need to look at Kanye as a person first. He has made other stupid comments both concerning race and not concerning race. I do not believe Kanye is a racist but I do agree with all the “F*ck Kanye” status updates on facebook. He deserved those updates because he was an asshole and did something stupid, not because he is a racist black person.
Now most people always look at the bad things that happen during an event, never the positives. Later that night during the VMA’s, Beyonce won video of the year, and during her acceptance speech, she said, “Thank you. I remember being 17-years-old, up for my first MTV Award with Destiny’s Child and it was one of the most exciting moments in my life. So I’d like Taylor [Swift] to come out and have her moment.” People are always looking for negatives to put down a person of a different race, but I think everyone has to start looking at the positives. I also believe that Barack Obama got it right when he called out Kanye West calling him a jackass, because that is the simplest way to put it.

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That's what she said says:

When Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift at the VMAs, I was shocked. My mouth literally hung open for about 30 seconds and this wave of sorrow washed over me as I watched how helpless and sad Taylor looked once he handed her the microphone back. While I think that was an ignorant and jackass move that Kanye pulled, I don’t think in any way it was race related. Sure, it may have been genre related as Taylor had stated she sings mostly country music and Kanye may have it in his mentality that hip hop is better than any kind of music genre. In my mind, it did not matter if Keri Hilson had been up there accepting the award. Kanye believed that Beyonce’s video was superior to every one’s video “of all time”. Color had nothing to do with it so it completely disgusts me that people would go on twitter or facebook and call him a “fucking nigger” and that he should get lynched for it. I think he should get a lot of crap for it but to kill the man? Seriously? It was not that big of a deal that he should get a death sentence over it. I admit I was one of those people that went on facebook immediately after the incident happened and put “Kanye west is so ignorant, I can’t believe he did that to Taylor Swift”. While that may have been most of my friends’ statuses, the rest of my friends were like “Oh he’s so boss! He was right, Beyonce got robbed!” Sometimes the way people think astounds me. I mean, how would you feel if you had won your first award and you’re sitting there trying to thank every one of your fans that made it possible and someone goes up on stage and basically says you don’t deserve in front of MILLIONS of people? Kanye did make himself look like an idiot and he has a tendency to not think before he speak, but we sort of expect that from him now ever since the whole “Bush does not like black people” incident. He puts people on the spot but ultimately gets all the attention on him. I think he’s an attention whore. But the most I say he deserves is just people to tell him like it is, that that was an idiotic thing to do and he should really take people’s feelings into consideration before he outright makes claims for all the world to see. His excuse for him being drunk at the VMAs was stupid because I think he would have done it sober! Kanye has gotten a lot of crap about what he’s done; all the facebook quizzes about “When will Kanye interrupt you?”, the possible shirt idea and celebrities coming out and saying that they’re ashamed of him and that “he is a sad human being” as Kelly Clarkson so nicely put it. Though I don’t quite agree that the article showed the true underbelly of all white people, I do think that it showed that some people still use that word as a means of degrading another human being. It’s pathetic that people revert to using that word to bring someone down and he doesn’t deserve that. But he still was a butthead about the whole thing and I bet he felt like crap when Beyonce won video of the year!

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ORPHEUS says:

I’d like to first state that Kanye West is an egotistical, celebrity –hungry ass. Not only is he a blatant racist to his white fans, those who purchase most of his music legally and attend his outrageously priced concerts, but he is also inconsiderate of other human beings, as shown through his rude interruption of the young, shy, white artist Taylor Swift. That said, I’d like to state that I am a black man, and Mr. West’s actions embarrass me consistently. I personally don’t have a problem with the word nigger, simply because one can only choose to be offended. I do realize the stigmatism associated with it. I do realize the many pains my ancestors went through to stop the use of that word. I do realize that it is a derogatory word that is just tacky to use, and that is used primarily by racist asses. I also realize that my generation and my culture use the word so freely that it is disgusting. I’d readily admit that I use the word in it proper “add-an-a-drop-the-er” form, nevertheless, it is still not right. I just simply say it. Onto the Twitter racist Harry Allen, he like most-everyone is secretly a racist. This fact brings me to yet another one of my digressions.
Last night in typical Penn State fashion I attended a party, despite the fact that it was Wednesday night. While attending this party I met a very nice white female freshmen. We had a brief conversation about this and that, mostly penn state foot ball andwe got along thoroughly. After leaving her company, I began mingling with the rest of my friends only to run into her later that night. However to my surprise she shouted out “Malik!!!!” when seeing me in the crowd, which is not my name. I proceed to tease her and call her a racist for assuming my name was Malik simply because I am black, which brings me back to my original point. Everyone or most everyone had racist tendencies to some degree. Because the society in which we live has not achieved complete racial harmony, its only natural that we all have subdued racial tendencies to some degree. However this does not excuse Harry Allen by any means. Just because we all have some racist tendencies engrained in our psyche does not mean that we should live by these subconscious thoughts, or speak them freely as Harry Allen did. As shown through my example of my white female friend, sometimes these subconscious thoughts, as harmless as mistaking my name for a stereo typical areocentric name, or as hurtful as calling a grandiose African American pop star a nigger, raise their head every now and then. However in order to move in the right direction we should slap down these public displays of racism as often as possible.

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Chase Utley's Mistress says:

I was watching the VMA’s with my friends and was really excited to see Taylor Swift beat out some of the biggest names in the music industry to win a moonman. As a dedicated T-Swift fan I was angry when I watched Kanye storm the stage and steal all her thunder. When he left all the viewers got to see a dumbfounded and clearly shocked Swift as she tried to hold back tears infront of her fellow musicians and millinos of people across the country. Shortly after the incident videos of the incident were posted on YouTube and every facebook status was changed to f*** Kanye or something along those lines. Many people went on to call Kanye a racist, saying he only favored Beyonce over Taylor because she is black and Taylor is white. I do not think this is the case. I think that Kanye is an egotistical, self centered artist who thinks that he is god’s gift to the music industry. Kanye West really thinks that everyone wants to know his personal opinions on every matter from fashion to politics to music. He called out George W. Bush saying that he didn’t care about the black people. I was at one of his concerts when he said he’d rather die than perform for a bunch of spoiled white kids. While a lot of what Kanye says is offensive and may come across as racist, I do not think he is actually racist. I think he is a very opinionated person who thrives on drama and always wants to be the center of attention. He probably did think that Beyonce deserved to win Taylor’s award and he figured that everyone would want to know what he thought about the matter. Add alcohol into the mix and there is Kanye storming the stage at the MTV VMA’s taking the microphone from Taylor Swift and publicly embarassing her in front of millions of people and about five minutes before she has to perform. It was not Kanye being racist, it was just Kanye being Kanye. While some of the reactions on twitter and facebook were right, some were unwarranted. Using racial slurs directed at Kanye were unnecessary. It does not help the matter, and only ends up adding more fuel to the fire. Everything about that night can just be summed up that Kanye is inconsiderate while Beyonce showed grace and humility while accepting her award for video of the year and allowing Taylor Swift to come out onto the stage and have her moment with her fans. I do not think that Kanye West is a racist or a bigot, I simply think that he is inconsiderate and lacks most of the social graces that his fellow peers have. Just because he is a celebrity does not mean he can do or say whatever he wants. And all the heat that he is now getting for his actions and insincere apologies are punishment enough. Plus I noticed throughout the night that he was up for many awards and did not win a single one. I guess he’s not as good an artist as he thinks he is.

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Casper says:

In my opinion Kanye West is an arrogant, egotistic, self-absorbed, jerk. Why does Kanye feel that he is entitled to voice his opinion anywhere he may please. His lack of character brought shame to hip hop. I wonder how his mother feels, looking down on him. I’d like to applaud Taylor Swift and Beyonce for handling the situation with such professionalism. For Kanye to then come out and admit he was drunk at the VMA’s proves he is a total embarrassment to the industry. His childish acts should not be over-looked and also should be punished. Perhaps he shouldn’t be invited to next year’s awards. How many chances is this guy going to get? Have you ever seen Jay-Z drunk and acting like a fool at a public ceremony? No you haven’t. This guy thinks he is the god of hip hop and needs to be brought back to reality. Still, no matter how wrong Kanye was, he does not deserve to be called racist slurs. Racism is the epitome of ignorance. The people who said these things should be standing right next to Kanye West. But really is anyone surprised? My whole reason for picking this blog to write about is the comment about the “post-racial” Obama era. That comment is sitting next to “I’m not racist, I voted for Obama” in the WTF were the thinking folder. Do people honestly think that since America has elected a black president, racism was going to disappear? Hate breeds hate. Meaning, racist parents are raising their children to be racist. This has been this way for a very long time and will continue to happen for a very long time. I believe the only answer for racism lies in the education systems. Like this class, we need to open children’s eyes. I myself was raised in a racist town. I was never racist, but I was ignorant. It took 18 years before I actually spoke to someone of a different race. I firmly believe that if school districts took action to have classes such as this one, on a smaller scale of course, racist slurs would not be tossed around so lightly. Institute discussion groups every week, where students such as myself could have a better understanding of the real world. Racism is learned in the home, at least I think so. We need schools to step up and take on the challenge of racism in America, rather than tucking it under a carpet until something like this happens. Like Kanye once said “Racism still alive, they just be concealing it”. Give the children of America a backbone of morals and beliefs we can be proud of, and that may one day help this ongoing problem of racism.

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Northeast says:

I think that is why I waited until later on in the week to write my journal entry. I should have known that the Kanye West situation would hit the race relations website. I have heard and seen so many opinions about it. Everyone knows what happened at the Video Music Awards, so a little summary is not needed. He has been the topic of the whole week, and this will be talked about for years to come.
I think that it was so very rude and disrespectful for musician and producer of his status to do a thing like that. The first thing I said was that he could have done it in a blog, not on live television. On top of that, it was Kanye West vs. Taylor Swift, or Rap vs. Country. Personally, I am not a fan of country music, but someone can’t just disrupt a person’s speech, even if they wanted to state their opinion. Many people have their opinions about what had happened, but the main point is what Kanye did was wrong. Some people went way too far.
Why in the world did he do that? Kanye is known to be very controversial, and he has a big ego, so that could be a factor. It was said that he had a bottle of Hennesy, and he may have been drunk. Jay-Z responded in his defense and said that it he is very passionate about all the things that he does, and he can’t control it. That still does not make up for the fact about what he did to the show, and to Taylor Swift.
Because of what transpired, people responded by word of mouth, and all over the media, especially facebook and twitter. Everyone has feelings against what has happened, but some people went too far and had to make race an issue in the situation. And here we go again with the N-bomb. I never knew that it would erupt this bad, and especially on twitter. There were many examples of the N-word used to insult Kanye West in the certain tweets. But why call him that? Just because it was a black, male rapper against a young, female country singer? I think that by bringing race into the problem is not the way to go, even if you have negative feelings against Kanye. Are people that use the N-word in a negative manner racist? There could be a whole debate about that subject, but they are racist. I still can’t get over the fact that there were so many racists on twitter, and they displayed their pictures to show who they were.
The word is being brought up again showing its ugly head, and that’s why I think that racism will never cease in the United States. There is always going to be a case where there is a situation. Just like this. I mean I know there are racists out there, but you think this is the right moment for them to pop out? Totally out of the question, out of proportion, and I think this is not the situation for it to be used. It should not be used at all. And also, to make the racism even worse, a person said that he should be lynched, guns and things referenced to guns were made to insult him, and the comments were unacceptable. Many people saw them.
I don’t care if they were used as a joke, which I don’t think there were. A person can’t just call person racial slurs in general or in a negative manner. During the show, Beyonce gave Taylor Swift a chance to finish her speech, Kanye apologized to Taylor, and Jay-Z positively commented on it. So just leave the situation alone, and I know there are people still heated over it. Obviously, it was not a racial intent for him to do that. Solely on his ego and his opinion. So people still have to watch what they say, of all statuses, because if the media catches it, it is going to be seen by everyone. And the twitter statuses should go in the What the F were they thinking file.

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Ready To Ride says:

I found that the actions that Kanye West took were totally rational! He had the right to get up on stage, humiliate Taylor Swift, the VMA, and himself! It is important to remember that all of his ideas are perfect and should be imposed upon all. Ethnocentrism? … and my sarcasm of course.
I apologize if this journal isn’t correct but I don’t care. Thinking back to Sam’s lecture about ethnocentrism and war made me realize that all Kanye is is a ethnocentric bastard. This isn’t the first time Kanye has blown up about something so small and un important. Last year at Christmas, Steven Colbert (Satire News Anchor for Comedy Central), publicly challenged him, by declaring “Operation Humble Kanye” a plan to knock West’s album off the top of the iTunes charts In a later episode that same week, Colbert reported that he successfully bumped Kanye to #2 on the ITunes album charts. West responded on twitter saying, “who the fuck is Steven Colbert?” and later made a much larger deal out of it.
It’s easy to see that Kanye is a playa hater, and can’t take losing. He feels his ideas are immaculate and are perfect, and no one should challenge them. He goes out of his way to make an ass out of himself. As for the so called “racist comments” , I personally think he deserved it. Not because he is black, or anything about the color of his skin or heritage, but because he is an asshole.
Growing up in the south I am no stranger to racism. I’ve heard it from friends, strangers, and even family members. But the word “nigger” goes far beyond the idea of him being black, in fact it’s not even because he is black, it is his attitude. If I, a white guy were to publicly call him a nigger, I am not a racist. But I know what I mean. I mean he is a jerk that shouldn’t be allowed near a camera or any means of communication. He may have apologized but he is far from being forgiven. In reality I could care less about the VMAs or Taylor Swift. It is true that I purposely changed the channel. I am not one for politics or celebrities, because they are all the same, money hungry pricks.
Of course some comments made about him were racist, like the guy featured on the blog. He too is an ethnocentric racist. But of course, in today’s youth it is cool to call people out on their faults. But not their color. I applaud this guy for also being a total prick, because he too is a little Kanye West.

“We all self-conscious. I’m just the first to admit it” – Kanye West
“This guy is a straight up asshole” – Aaron Gremillion

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Makuma3uyA says:

Nigger was term that white slave owners used on their black slave centuries ago. This word is thrown around very easily and is overlooked as a word that was used to assert the dominance of the white majority against the black minority. Kanye’s behavior on MTV’s Video Music Awards was unprofessional and immature. It would have been totally understandable to have tweets describing his behavior as childish, unacceptable or how much of a jackass he was for jumping on stage. However, I believe that his actions do not give people the right to call him a nigger or to ask for his head on a platter. “Can someone please put a cap in Kanye”, said one of the tweets. Asking for someone to be shot HAS to be illegal. I want to emphasize that I said earlier that people where making the comments and not WHITE people, because some of the tweets were from other minority groups. I do not believe that Harry Allen’s article is to portray how white people are still racist, but how people, America in general is very racist and hateful.
I believe that Kanye’s loyalty to Jay-Z, Beyoncé’s husband and whom Kanye refers to as his “big brother”, was what drove him to jump on stage and interrupt Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech. His initial intention was not to humiliate Swift, but to speak his mind; something he should have kept to himself till the VMAs post-show. I never believed that what Kanye did was because of race. To me, Kanye just happened to support the artist of color and interrupted the artist who was white. As everything in America, if there is a conflict between two individuals of different races, it is automatically a conflict between races. Of course, because Swift is a Caucasian woman and West is a black rapper/producer, most of the tweets described West as acting like a nigger due to the fact that he was “oppressing” the “delicate” blond white woman.
This is just another situation that points out how racism is still alive. This blog presented the racist reactions of many ignorant Americans who happened to have a twitter account, the ones who are the most knowledgeable of social networks. I wonder how many more agree with the hateful tweets or have worse opinions on what happened. One of the tweets said “…these are the things that make you ALL look bad.” The year is 2009, Obama is president, and people still generalize ethnic groups because of the actions of few; in this case of one, Kanye. It scares me to know that there is so much hatred still in this world. There is still so much ignorance. It is because of this that the discussion of race should be ongoing. If we continue to talk about race, how it defines us, how it distinguishes us, we might be able to get to a point where there could be another situation like Kanye’s and say “What an asshole!” instead of “What a nigger!”.

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Patti Mayonnaise says:

Alright. I guess I knew that this was going to cause controversy, but looking at that article…wow. Well, like everyone is saying, it was totally unacceptable for Kanye to do what he did. I personally don’t like him because of the personality he’s shown in the past, and this just makes me continue to dislike him. He’s always been arrogant and big headed and he thinks he can just do whatever he wants. I’m somewhat glad that he finally understands that if he’s a “jackass” in a situation that it will, indeed, backfire on him.
Nonetheless, the reaction of all those people is uncalled for. I mean there’s a line where voicing your opinion turns into being disrespectful. That just makes me not want to respect their opinion more. OK, there will always be a question of is this race or is this just a jerk being a jerk, but there will never be a definite answer. I think this is more about people having an excuse to come at Kanye and drop the n-bomb in the process. I’m not saying that these people are all crazy and want to just make racist comments. Because that is what they are…it’s not even an argument about whether the “tweets” that they made are racist or not. Blatantly saying “So I just heard. Kanye had a nigger moment last night in the VMAs” is really not ok. I guess the question is what makes it not ok. But if you’re going to fight racism with more racism, I don’t even know what to say to that because it’s just stupid. I really want to know what that is going to accomplish and how that is going to work. Complete hypocrisy just doesn’t work when trying to get a point across.
You know, what I really want to see is what would happen if Taylor Swift were to blog or say something about this whole incident and SHE dropped the n-bomb. I mean, I don’t think that’s something she would ever do, but the reaction from the press and the public would be through the roof! Something that was brought up when I was talking about this with some other people was that Taylor Swift is also so young. Pink made a comment about that saying if she (herself) had received that award he probably wouldn’t have tried anything because she’s older. Which doesn’t really have anything to do with the racist comments, but is definitely something to think about.
All in all, the comments made against Kanye almost seem to backfire against those who tried to speak out against what happened. He’s human. Let it go. Sure, it wasn’t ok that he said/did that but the reaction of the public was not quite alright either.

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aquafina says:

In today’s world people can say almost whatever they want on the internet, in most of these cases they are doing it on popular sites like Twitter and Facebook. When Kanye West made his remark he made sure everyone knew what was on his mind and he voiced his opinion, which people have been doing for year. The circumstances in which he did it is what irritated people the most. Taylor Swift is seen by many as America’s sweetheart, she was then interrupted during her award speech by a black man. After that people started up a firestorm, making racist remarks and even death threats towards Kanye West.
The internet today allows people to say things they may not feel comfortable saying in person, this also allowed for others to see what people are really feeling. When people make racist remarks on the internet it is true racism coming out. People are just letting out their feelings that they’ve had and they feel more comfortable doing it on the internet rather than saying it straight from their mouth in front of people. People who we would have never have assumed to be racist may be putting up racist comments on their twitters or facebooks. Some people may say its not racism and that the people putting those posts up are just angry, but if they truly were not racist the thought of using the “N” word or any other derogatory words would not cross their minds. They could have just said Kanye West was a jerk or an asshole, they did not have to add on any other words which are specific for black people. Some may even believe what Kanye West had done was racist, but all he did was speak his mind in a way which got him the most attention, which is exactly what he wanted. He never once said anything about race or made any acknowledgement to it. Even after Barack Obama has been elected as our president there is still an underbelly of racism that many people may have but just hold in because it is now the cultural norm to be accepting to all people. If times were to change and it was acceptable to be ignorant towards black the people making these comments would be saying them out loud and wouldn’t have to hide behind the internet.
When people are allowed to say what they want and they believe there will be no repercussions from what they say their true feelings will come out. When the whole Kanye West debacle occurred people immediately let out their feelings. Many people responded with saying things which were blatantly racist, these racist remarks were coming from people we would have never considered racist.

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A slice of the good life is but 2 ounces away says:

When I first saw Kanye’s irreverent actions on stage at the VMA’s there were many things going through my mind. I wouldn’t be so inept though as to rush to the majority, like so many tend to, but I would definitely think through my emotions and come up with the one that shows my peers how I earnestly feel about it. It’s easy to react to things like this and get caught up in the fervor of it, especially when so many others are doing it, but you certainly have to understand that that kind of behavior can’t be tolerated in such a nation. It’s almost impossible for such stone-age intolerance to not catch up with you at some point, which makes what was going on that night on our new favorite internet baby, twitter, so difficult to accept. It’s troubling to be made aware that in this new age, even after electing a black president, this kind of thing can still catch so much momentum. People are going to find out very quickly that doing it on the world wide web doesn’t make it any less unacceptable.

It’s easy to say something by getting it out on the internet because you instantly have the satisfaction that you’ve spoken your mind. But are you really sparking dialogue? I find the concept of attempting dialogue on the internet a little hard to successfully carry out. It depersonalizes the parties so that they are quickly made less to be actual people and more their ideas. The internet mobilized so much knowledge that society will never be what it used to be but at the same time it made us incredibly ignorant. It unfortunate to be racially represented by anything that isn’t positive but I understand that from time to time it happens.

It was nice to hear Obama’s take on the matter though. “He’s a jackass,” just resounds so much better than whatever anyone else could’ve said in response to Kanye’s asinine behavior. I was so happy to know that someone had asked Obama what his opinion was on the matter, and two, that he admonished him in such an honest way. “He’s a jackass” is easily one of my favorite quotes of all time now.

I personally felt so shocked by what happened I didn’t even know what to initially say. It was so out of line and classless that I disregarded Kanye’s status as a member of the human race. I decided that I was going to boycott all of his music until he apologized and Taylor Swift accepted that apology. After his apology it was clear that he understands the weight of what he did. I don’t feel like he is going to allow this to change how he acts in the future though. I propose that from now on when Kanye goes to an award show he has to wear a bell around his neck. This will help out security, society, and most importantly, the guy currently most prone to public acts of ignorance.

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Imma Let you finish says:

I am ashamed of all the racism that was present throughout that post. It really is completely ridiculous. The pure hatred that was seen makes me sick. That word is so hurtful. I’m a white male and I can’t even claim to know anything about how that word makes African Americans feel. I think that we can all agree that Kanye West is a huge jerk. I doubt that you will find many people on the planet right now that would disagree with this statement. Throughout the past few years, Kanye has been doing stupid things all over the place. Whether it be taking recognition away from Taylor Swift during the Video Music Awards on MTV or bashing the president on the Today show. Kanye continually proves to me and the many others on our planet that he is nothing but an idiot. Unfortunately, people can’t just accept that he is an idiot. Just because he is black, people have to take it to a racist level. If he was a white person he would still be just as much of a jerk. I would love to see what these same people would have written if it was a white person had done this same thing. What if Justin Timberlake had gotten up on stage and taken away the award from Taylor Swift instead of Kanye. I bet that these tweeters wouldn’t have even wrote anything. I almost feel that they would use this situation just so they could share their racist views. Even if they were big Taylor Swift fans and were seriously mad it’s still quite a shame that people would add racist elements to their statements just to do it. So you’re angry at Kanye? That’s fine. He did a terrible thing. But why do so many people have to be so racist. I’ve liked to think that our country has slowly been moving down the road away from our racist history. We all know that our country went through some terrible times. Not only in regards to our history with slavery, but also with native Americans. I feel that the majority of our generation wants to move on and make our society one that is as far from racism as possible. Unfortunately, there will always be racists. These racists will probably breed more racists, and the cycle will go on and on throughout the years. We can only hope that people will stray from the beliefs and hatred that their parents have. Having said this, I really think that the racism that exists is a very small minority of the whole population. Unfortunately, these are the people that are focused on. Unfortunately, this makes the majority that isn’t racist look very bad.

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You Killed Kenney says:

I would like to talk about the video where the woman commented on the responses comments. As by now we all know Kanye West made a fool of himself. He embarrassed himself, and the members of the black community. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Kanye does not like white people. I however find this somewhat comical because Kanye West make millions of dollars a year off of white people. He does this through many different venues such as ticket sales, apparel sales (we all remember those awful glasses), and cd sales. He has had multiple outrageous comments and his talent and passion for music have clearly waned since he came out with his breakthrough song “through the wire.”
Back to the point though, I found it interesting that the woman was willing to disapprove of people who commented on Kanye West’s race while talking about the bone head move that he made when dealing with Taylor Swift. Yet this woman is quick to point out that the Harvard Professor who made a fool of himself was black. I find it interesting that she feels in one occasion it is okay to point out someones race and yet in another it is “unfair.” Personally I think people like that are simply helping to perpetuate bad relations between races.
I believe that all races are equall. Every individual is just as worthy as the next. I also believe that we all have special features that make us one of a kind and that add to the totality of who we are as a person. To deny these special and unique features that we have is to deny a part of ourselves and to ignore important heritage that we have.
I would also like to talk about the cnn video which made was in regaurds to Indian men who were using skin whitening cream. In different areas of the world there will always be different tastes. The looks that seem exotic and rare will always be valued. But I believe it is okay to leave it to each individual to look the way they want. Some people want darker skin, and there are safe methods for achieving that look that are commercially available. The same goes for those who are dark skinned and want to look white. Our society has even created a drug that helps to treat “short stature” in children. These chemicals and process are commercially available and it is easily marketable. While there seems to be an unfair negative connotation associated with using these products it is the job of corporations to provide safe and legal products to consumers that are profitable for their shareholders. I believe that if people want spiked hair, then yes they should be able to buy hair gel.

[Reply]

King James says:

Kanye West is knowing for his tendency to “speak out his mind.” Many people may remember in September 2, 2005. Kanye West was a featured speaker for a concert focused Hurricane Relief on ABC. In middle of the speech, after Mike Myers, an actor who was supposed to speak on national TV along with Kanye West, had finished his scripted line. Kanye West spoke to the camera “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” The producer immediately cut the interview, however the controversy had already started. Kanye’s comments were met mostly with condemnation from the media. To the vast majority of people, Kanye was either funny by making a racist comment on TV or hated by some that are sensitive toward racism. Meanwhile in the backgrounds, the n word is used by people of all colors. Many African Americans use the n word on each other as a symbol of friendship and brotherhood. To them, the n word is okay as long as it is spoken by a fellow African American. As for the rest, the n word is used as a derogatory term for people. Just like the word “fag”, the n word is tossed around when there aren’t black people nearby. To them, there is no problem for using the n word unless it is directly spoken to a black man. While that’s not the case for all non-blacks in America, majority of them have a trace of racism. Combined with immaturity and the fact that what you put on internet usually wont get in you trouble, young adults often “speak their mind” on the internet. On many of the forums / blogs which is responded by mostly kids, the n word is often and casually used. Because there is no real way to trace those comments, some people will use this opportunity to express their hatred and resentment which they normally would not wear on their sleeves. Back to the tweeter blog, the man who referred Kanye West as a n***er most likely has racist attitudes toward African Americans in general. The fact that he called out the entire black population in America indicates that he stereotypes Kanye West as all African American in the fact that he makes bold comments in public. Had a less racist person (I don’t believe that there is someone with no racism) responded to the Kanye West controversy, he or she woud’ve simply condemned Kanye for his action on the VMA stage instead of saying the whole African American population needs straightening. Some people will simply laugh at Kanye for making a fool out of himself once again on national stage. In the media world, all types of celebrities exist for a reason, and if Kanye’s role is to entertain people, then so be it. However as much as Kanye’s action at the VMA stage was uncalled for, calling him a n***er and the entire black population stupid is just as bad. People need to start looking at individuals, rather than labeling an icon of another ethnicity to represent the entire race.

[Reply]

Frank says:

When watching the VMAs on Sunday on MTV, I would have to say that I was very shocked by what I did see, but none the less if something was going to happen then it would have been from Kayne West considering all of the problems that he’s had with MTV in the past for not winning a moon man. He stated after last year’s VMAs that he was not going to come back nor perform at any more because of the fact that he’s been cheated over the years. How he’s always had one of the hottest albums out there and has never one. I 100% do not agree with what he did to Taylor Swift, he stole a moment that she will never be able to get back, mind you that it was her first moon man that she has ever won at the VMAs. I’m sure that she was extra excited because she beat Beyonce, and other major singers to get the award. Mind you he was also drunk that night adding some extra courage to him, because there are pictures of him pre VMAs holding a handle of Hennessey which was half gone by then, not to say that he should be excused because of drunkenness. I feel like people are still held for the actions drunk or sober. Some say that he only did it because he knew that he would be able to get away with it, had it of been Pink or some other white singer then he wouldn’t have the guts to do what he did. Others said that had Rihanna beat Beyonce then it wouldn’t have been an issue, making it a race issue, which creates Twitter situations, such as the one shown in the blog. I actually have a twitter account, and there is something called Trend Topics where are the top 10 things that people are currently talking about on Twitter. Kayne West was towards the top, for a couple of days, with people negativity and positivity bashing him. Some said it wasn’t that big of a deal, that yes he was wrong but it shouldn’t have blown up to the degree that it did, other had racism comments to say about it, which I am not really shocked about. I had a feeling that some people were going to feel a certain way toward all African Americans based on what Kayne West did, which I think it wrong because he does not represent a whole race; he is a part of a whole. I am personally appalled by all the comments, but honestly I am not truly shocked. The year is 2009 is there is still modern day racism. I guess those people believe that it was the God given right to express their feelings on Twitter, more power to them for being bold. This isn’t the first time that Kayne West has been in the hot seat for something. Going back to 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, he stated “George Bush does not like black people.” Some agree some disagree, and some agree. If there is anything to say about this man is that he really doesn’t care what people say about him, he is going to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it, positive or negative.

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M double O G says:

The thoughts that all white people or any people in general have a substandard condition of hate towards the black people is true. Think about this: we have our conscious and subconscious. Our conscious is what we think, while our subconscious is what we feel. After hundreds of years of degradation of blacks from slavery to the negative connotation Americans had during the civil war, we as a nation have a negative connotation of black people. However, it may be argued that this notion is completely fabricated from our imaginations. Beyonce shortly afterwards made Taylor Swift give her award’s speech, and everyone loved her. I constantly saw quotes on facebook saying, “Beyonces’s so sweet.” It just goes to show that the more you try to generalize people the more the people surprise you. Sure some people hated Kanye and were waiting for an opportunity to smite him verbally, others broke the stereotype by saying Beyonce is the best.
It just goes to show no matter what happens people will constantly find common ground. We are all conformists. People can’t help but to find common ground with each other. When this incident happened it blew up on facebook for a whole 24 hours and then what.? It’s forgotten like every other notion of human ideas. It makes one wonder if the greatest of human desire will every communicate to reality. Immortality is something we constantly chase. We want the impossible, but we will never have it. Jay Z new song “Forever Young” says he pops bottles constantly even though he is a grown man. People worry too much about their legacy when they can help someone who really needs it. Someone who never has had the opportunity to get drunk every night like Penn State students. I don’t know what else to say about the matter People, there are so many different types of people, will make opposite decisions When someone asks me what my culture is I feel like saying, “it’s me. You have never met someone like me and you never will. We all have our unique culture based upon our experiences, which not even twins have identical experiences. It makes you wonder if the subject is overrated and the course is overrated. I wonder why we find a need to find differences in each other. Wouldn’t everything be easier if we all got along? The ancient Muslims pretended to be Hindus to manipulate their society. Perhaps, power is the root of all evil. Back then we had gold, now we have money. We will always have problems. Just get used to it and stop complaining; adapt to our environment like Darwin said. Whatever else we do is irrelevant.

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Boweezy says:

Kanye West is one the most talented artist in the history of Hip-Pop, what he did on the stage was absolutely non-sense and his action insults not just Taylor Swift but also his own image. Kanye got some issues
that people might not aware of, also he might be in the unconsicious state of mind which means he was drunk at that time. From view of point, I am not trying to protect Kanye from his wrong action but to see things more clearly and calculate all kinds of circumstances. From the side of kanye’s fans, they got upset because of their role model’s idiotic action. From the side of Taylor Swift’s fans, they think Kanye offended them because their role model was insulted. In the end, from the people with hate against Kanye’s action, they have cross the line no better,
only worse than what Kanye did.
People already accepted that most times racism have been shown from white against black, but this time those people finally think that they got a hate came from a black towards a white. first I have to say that I am well aware of that a public figure must be careful of his actions, but what gives the right to the people to make these extrem comments on Kanye when they don’t even understand the border line of racism. Now, let’s pretend that Kanye is coming from a racist stand of view, after what he did on that stage and you who thinks Kanye is a racist and made those ruthless comments, where does that leave you? Do you feel better by say those things? no, now I see you are a true
racist, and you will see that as well(maybe not), soon the whole world will see you people are just been a bunch of blind haters. Kanye cross his line of been immature, and after that, you cross the line of been a racist. Which one is worse, I will leave that scale to you.
People should see problem not just from one aspect, more likely if you try to see things clearer, you need to
see all circumstance from one issue. From this issue, Kanye might said that just because his internal issues or
maybe he was under influence. From what we saw on that stage, Kanye did not show any hate against Taylor Swift but
only he thought that it is not fair that Talor Swift received the award but not beyonce. He was only been childish
and immature about his opinion, and in that situation, he decided to show it rather than hide it. Once for all,
every one has the responsibility to moniter their actions, not just the public figures, because what you say about the
the others could mean just as much as the famous ones

[Reply]

TheLoudMime says:

How can I not comment on a blog entry concerning the infamous Kanye West VMA outburst? I am so incredibly glad he did what he did, and not because I thought Beyonce’s video was better than Taylor Swift’s (Who cares? It’s too subjective anyway…) but because it gave Internet bloggers and message board frequenters something incredibly entertaining to talk about.

On to the subject at hand: race.

(Note: I’m going to use the “N” word throughout this simply for clarification. I’m not calling anyone by the word, and I’ll only use it in quotes and when I feel I have to. Hopefully I do not offend.)

I think back a few years to when Kanye had ANOTHER outburst at MTV’s “music” award show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-631TgPP2s

“Give a black man a chance, man… they don’t want a [expletive] nigger in that position, man!”

And when Kanye famously uttered “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” next to a mortified Mike Myers on television.

Clearly, like the Twitterers (is that right?), Kanye has had race on his mind as well.

Eagle’s quarterback Donovan McNabb has made comments to do with race in the recent past as well. “There’s not that many African-American quarterbacks, so we have to do a little bit extra. … Because the percentage of us playing this position, which people didn’t want us to play this position, is low, so we do a little extra.”

Current boxing superstar and undoubtedly a boxing legend Floyd Mayweather, Jr., is the most recent athlete to toss a racial grenade for the media to handle. “If Floyd Mayweather was white, I’d be the biggest athlete in America.”

A lot of these comments seem like cop-outs to me. I feel sometimes that black athletes and black celebrities like to use race and racism as an excuse. Yes, there are MANY times when one can attribute something, justifiably, to racism, but it seems so often that prominent black members of society use the excuse because it is convenient. Whether Kanye had racial motives in his most recent outburst is up for debate. Personally, I think the man had some alcohol in his system and felt very strongly about Beyonce’s video, partially because of his friendship with Beyonce’s boyfriend Jay-Z.

That being said, I am amazed at some of those Twitter entries. Are these people serious? I’m embarrassed. It’s ridiculous.

I used to wonder why white people were not supposed to use the “N” word. I had conversations with friends, with strangers, and with myself just wondering why black people could say it to each other, but white people could not say it to black people. I still do not know why black people say it to each other. A logical explanation for that still has not found its way into my head. (And Nigga is not any different than Nigger).

I do believe I know, however, why white people should not use the word. They should not use the word because it is the word that slave drivers used to put down the black people that did their work without pay. It’s a derogatory term that was used to put down an entire race.

From the website of the African American Registry, a non-profit education organization:

“Historically, nigger defined, limited, made fun of, and ridiculed all Blacks. It was a term of exclusion, a verbal reason for discrimination.”

That is why NO ONE should use the term, especially the white community.

I can not believe the amount of people who used that on Twitter. Disgraceful.

[Reply]

Amanda says:

There is no doubt in everyone’s mind that Kanye West was wrong when he busted up on stage and stole the microphone from Taylor Swift. I myself sat here in my room watching this year VMA’s and said wow what an asshole. But honestly it was not a surprise to me, as I’m sure it wasn’t not a lot of other people who know about his career. Kanye is known for being arrogant, cocky and just a jerk. He thinks that he is better than everyone else because he survived a car crash and made it big.

I really don’t think he did it because Taylor was white. He is just so cocky that he believed everyone cared what his opinion was about who won the award. I think that even if it was the other way around and Kanye loved Taylor Swift’s video and Beyonce won he still would have been up there putting in his two cents. And on the same note, I don’t think the only reason people (especially white people) are mad is because it was a black man doing this to a white girl, it’s just because people are outraged at his obnoxious behavior.

And I know a lot of the twitter comments that are being brought up about this issue are the white people who are getting slammed for using the N-word. I myself don’t agree that anyone should use that word because it is meant to be degrading and a put down and I by no means am trying to justify the people using it, but I think everyone is just tired of hearing stupid remarks that Kanye West makes and this was the one that sent them over the edge. Just like Kanye’s justification of why he did what he did was because he was drunk, a lot of the people posting those Twitter comments are going to say they only used that type of wording because they were so mad. I don’t think this moment escaladed like it did because of the colors of the two artist’s skin, I think it was more just the never of Kanye. If there was any artist up there on stage receiving the award and anyone ran up there, regardless of both of their races people would be mad and saying negative things. I don’t care if it was Elvis Presley and the late Michael Jackson if either one of them interrupted the other and said what Kanye did, there would be an enourmous amount of backlash from society.

I think our society loves to take these types of moments and make a huge deal about them. Especially now when everything is on facebook and twitter, it’s just easy access to all of this useless information. All but two of my six classes the next day the teacher mentioned Kanye West. He loves the attention, and I don’t think he is going to stop making stupid comments and doing ridiculous things until everyone stops giving him the attention he wants.

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--» ♥ ©a$s@nDr@ ♥ «-- says:

Oh man. . .I remember when I first heard about all the racist comments that were tweeted on Sunday night. Not only was I shocked but I was a bit confused. For one as a black female I do not think that Kanye’s statement had ANYTHING to do with race. I think it’s just a coincidence that Taylor Swift is white and he is black. I feel like a lot of these people were just looking for something to tweet about. One tweet that I read said something to the effect of: “Kanye is a racist n!gger and if I have any n!gger followers please delete me from your twitter.” Really though? Who said that the other black people on twitter agreed with Mr. West? That’s statement alone sounds a bit extreme to me? Am I alone on this one? Not that this is a justification (because I honestly feel that Kanye was 100% wrong for his outburst and was pleased to hear that he was kicked out after that) Kanye was drinking a bottle of Hennessy before entering the ceremony. Also it is obvious that these tweeters know nothing about Kanye West because these random outbursts are nothing new when it comes to him. Does anyone remember the VMA’s a few years ago when he got pissed off that he lost to Norah Jones and threw a hissy fit as if he were a two year old child? When it comes to Kanye I just feel that he is way too outspoken and that is why many people do not like him. I think he is a very talented man but when it comes to personality I would rather hold a conversation with a 3 year old. It is okay for everyone to have their own opinion but during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech was definitely not the time. Where was the security??? I do not understand why he was able to get as far as he did without anyone stopping him. Kanye is known for stupid rants like that which is why I do not understand why MTV continues to invite him places and sit him near the stage. Thinking about all of Kanye’s nonsense in the past I think I know where this “racist” idea came from. When speaking about Hurricane Katrina with Michael J. Fox (I think it was him) Kanye went on to say that “George Bush does not like black people.”. Once again Kanye spoke out of context of the topic at hand just because that was “on his mind. It is obvious that this man is socially unaware that certain things in society are better left unsaid or if they must be expressed there are more appropriate ways of going about it. As for poor Taylor I think it is sad that she had to experience this on what is supposed to be a very important time in an artist’s life. Yeah yeah Kanye apologized but I do not feel that this was enough. Apologizes can go but so far, like he seriously took away this 19 year old’s moment for an award that had NOTHING to do with him. I started liking him again after his mother passed because it seemed that he had humbled himself but it’s apparent that he is back to his old ugly and disgusting ways. Hopefully this “break” that he is taking will give him time to reflect on how he has portrayed himself in the past couple of years and he will really change and just start thinking before he speaks.

[Reply]

Anonymous says:

I actually first heard about the incident at the VMA’s from a friend of mine. He is a troll. He trolls WoW forums, 4chan, facebook, etc. and he said he first heard about it from people posting about Kanye being a nigger. Now, if anyone is not familiar with 4chan, its an open forum that basically has no rules. If there is one thing we learned from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, its that if you let people do whatever they went, they will do exactly that. On 4chan, people expose their true faces, even if it just to satire. S naturally, when Kanye interrupted Taylor, it was “nigger, nigger, nigger” just as if an artist with a mental disability would have been “retard, retard, retard.” To say that this is a phenomenon found strictly in white people would be inherently ignorant. Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians can be racist as well. I think it even transcends race: people are just spiteful, hateful people. Now, some people can hide it, or even evolve from it, but must just suppress or mask it. The current debate over health care has taken an ugly turn for the worst, and Faux News can try to claim the Tea Party Express is thousands of patriots “taking their country back,” but when one of the key organizers calls the President an Indonesian Muslim Thief and communist, and some (not all) protestors have the President compared to an “African” witch-doctor, considering the racial history of our nation, that seems to be pushing it. I am not an ignorant leftist either; there were people comparing President Bush to a dumb redneck and a monkey, and even had his effigy burned, so this type of protest is nothing new to the 20th century politics. But the difference between now and, say, the Reagan years was the mongrels who would have been just sitting in their basements bitching about leftards can now go on the internet and trick themselves into believing somebody cares about their woes. We live in the digital age, which means people can propagate their “opinions” more easily. So, you might ask, what does Kanye’s interruption, and the debate over “Obamacare” have in common? They both gave people a reason to take off their masks, it just happened to be white people (which is historically most likely the case). If it were a Chinese prime minister who won the recent elections in Japan, it would be a similar case. People have a predisposition for hatred towards people who are different: we fear something we don’t understand, and it is much easier to destroy something we fear than trying to understand it. This is important to our discussion about ethnocentrism, in that our racial (and political) tensions, both contemporary and historical, are destroyed by the inability to understand, whether or not we accept, because if we can at least understand, we are taking the first step towards compromise.

[Reply]

Sick of School says:

Although what Kanye West did was COMPLETELY out of line at the VMA’s, it’s rather amusing to watch white people take the opportunity to generalize his actions and insult an entire race. When examining this situation, we must step back and realize the underlying, basic scenario that occurred. A young, radical, Black male stepped out of place and used the recognition of a white female to act out. In its most conceptual form, it’s easy to remark that this is how Black people act and that the entire race is inconsiderate. But what if the players involved were different?

Not necessarily removing the fact that the individuals at hand are celebrities, take a look at what race they are. In my opinion, if Beyonce had been on stage and Kanye interrupted to say that Taylor Swift should have won, the reception of his behavior would have been comical, and people most likely would have laughed off the incident. Or what if it was two men? What if Kanye had interrupted Jay-Z receiving an award to express his sentiments about who should have won? I believe that his actions what have been taken much more lightly.

I think the best scenario to pose would be if a Black woman were accepting the award and a white male came on stage to interrupt. Surely, his actions would not be well received, but it is important to recognize that he WOULD NOT have broad statements made about the color of his skin. People wouldn’t run around posting Tweets and blogs about “the Crackers doing it again!” The double standard is remarkable, and extremely important to realize.

These stereotypes make NO SENSE. Could we examine ideas like “all white people watch NASCAR” or “all white people are good with finances?” Clearly, thoughts like these are unfounded and have no real basis. But the truth is, these same STUPID assumptions exist for Black people. To take ONE INDIVIDUAL’S personal outburst and make it synonymous with the behaviors and beliefs of a race is uncalled for. The double standard allows for whites to make these types of general statements but if a Black person were to do this same, it is RACIST.

For this incident to have been as blown out of proportion as it was, like Kanye appearing on late night talk shows to apologize practically in tears, is out and out ABSURD. Yes, HE WAS WRONG, however, he should be judged as an individual, who had a lapse of judgment, NOT AS AN IGNORANT BLACK MAN WHO WAS SPEAKING WITHOUT BEING SPOKEN TO. Whites are too quick to pull the race card on this one. The fact that the President of our country is remarking about the incident makes it that much more outlandish.

[Reply]

NO NAMED says:

Kanye West Vs. Taylor Swift
After watching this award show, I was in shock. Kanye had no right and no reason to say what he said. There are many awards at each and every award show, which means that there are many nominees and many presenters to present each award. Everyone has an opinion, and I am pretty sure that each presenter has had their own opinion whether it was agreeing with the winner of the award or disagreeing. It is never the presenter’s opinion that matters and the audience should never have to know this opinion. Kanye was out of line and completely wrong. I do not think that this was a racist act at all. Whether the winner was Taylor Swift or Jennifer Hudson, I think that Kanye would have still made his opinion clear that he thought that Beyonce should have won the award. Personally, I think that Beyonce should have won the award, but it is just proper equate to not state an opinion when it is not wanted to necessary.
Kanye’s outbreak was not racist at all. He did not mean to be racist; he just meant to be a rude arrogant male. He thinks he is better than everyone, which is not the case at all. Kanye is a great rapper; he makes good music and should just stick to doing what he does best. People are watching this show and now judging him, not his music. It is going to negatively affect how this next cd sells, true fans will still buy it but it is obviously giving him a bad reputation. You know you make a statement when the President of the United States of America heard about what you did, and feels it necessary to make a comment. President Obama called Kanye a jackass on national television. President Obama is not white, and still spoke out against him. This shows how it is not a racist comment, but an act out of truth and courtesy. It must have an some effect on his children for him to make this statement because the entertainment world and President do not normally mix, but if his children were affected by Kanye’s behavior than other children were also. Taylor Swift has fans of all ages, and his comment was not being racist but was rude. He is going to lose some of his fan base along with the respect of other celebrities and the President.
At the end of the award show, Beyonce allowed Taylor to come out and say her “thank you” speech. This shows respect for both Beyonce and Taylor. Beyonce reached out to make an effort to fix the mistake that was made in her behalf, while also showing the country that she did not have anything to do with it. Kanye was not being racist against white people; he just has an opinion of liking Beyonce more than Taylor. People’s blog against Kanye are allowed, but the racist comments using the “n word” are just as bad as his comment because it is out of line. Kanye apologized, but nothing can take back the horrible scene he made at the nationally televised award show.

[Reply]

Corey Matthews says:

I won’t be surprised if this blog turns out to be the most popular one in the class. It deals with an event a great deal of us saw live or online and pertains to names we all know and some of us listen to. The MTV VMAs have been a popular awards show for years especially among our generation so it really is no surprise that my friends and I were watching it last Sunday night. And when we saw what happened, we were just stunned. Some might have thought it was planned out but we all knew it wasn’t. We all immediately felt bad for Taylor Swift and felt like Kanye was a jerk; we never saw it as a racist thing nor had racist thoughts like some did.
I have never seen my Facebook fill up with so many status updates in such little time. Essentially all of them stated something along the lines as “Kanye is a jerk,” “Wow what a dbag,” or “Rock on Taylor.” Everyone (including myself) could pretty much agree that Kanye did a terrible thing to such an undeserving person of the action. It was a huge moment for Taylor Swift and Kanye felt the need to interrupt her and completely ruin it for her in what will now be an unforgettable thank you speech. I would say all my friends just saw it as a “dick thing to do.” But after looking at some of these tweets online, I could never believe how racist some people could supposedly be.
These tweets after the VMAs show what these people are like much deeper than the surface. Everyone throwing out the “n-word” like it is a completely acceptable thing to say. I’m glad we have so many intelligent people speaking their minds online on the subject, sharing both their blatantly racist thoughts as well as their names. Surely companies will enjoy that when it comes to potential hiring. I just never could believe people could really just say things like this online. The way I see it, if you are really this racist, keep that kind of information and those opinions to yourself; no need to let everybody know just how much of a bigot you are. But the fact that people are saying these things so openly surprised me. Like my Facebook, I could understand some tweets saying how Kanye was wrong in what he did but definitely not ones that show a human’s true racism on this level of intensity.
It makes me angry to read these. It is straight up sickening. It is hard for me to accept the fact that some older people are racist even though racism was a more common thing back then. But it is almost impossible for me to accept the fact that probably all of these people posting these tweets are no older than 30. I showed a few of my friends these tweets without telling them that it was for class and they all had the same expression: eyes widening and something along the lines of “wow” or “damn” coming out of their mouths. Did they all have to say such racist things? Are these people all really this racist or are they saying it jokingly? I would want to think jokingly but using the “n-word” like they are I really can’t believe it. I have never seen racism so blatantly apparent in the present day like this before and it is eye-opening. This just goes to show you that no matter what may happen, some people will find a way to bring race into the picture.

[Reply]

DaWhiteApe says:

When I first heard of the entire Kanye West incident on the video music awards, I thought it was staged. However, once my facebook newsfeed started to blow up with all types of “I hate Kanye” and “Kanye should die” status updates, I decided to investigate the incident. I did a quick YouTube search and found the video of Kanye West’s rant on Taylor Swift. I initially found it to be pretty funny because I thought it was still all staged by MTV. The next day I checked my Twitter page and saw all kinds of tweets about hating Kanye West and how he is a piece of garbage.
Now, the racist-type tweets posted in this blog entry represent a small percentage of the actual tweets bashing Kanye. With that said, I think one has to clarify that Kanye West is a racist himself. Remember when he went on live television during a fundraiser and told the country that George Bush does not care about black people? I think the people on Twitter that posted these racist comments remember that about Kanye. Also, because Taylor Swift is a country music star… the racial divide is more evident than ever. I wonder what would have happened if Kanye West stole the microphone from another black person? Regardless of that, from what I read Kanye West had been drinking that night and obviously made a poor decision. Calling him racist names will not fix the situation at hand. Instead, people should just boycott his albums. I was a Kanye West fan before all this, and I still am now (even as a white person!). I think his auto-tuned garbage will sink his record sales more than a publicity stunt like this one.
I wonder what would happen if some white, male country music star came and stole the microphone from Rhianna? Would we hear all of the backlash, or would everyone just call him a big red neck and get on with their lives? It would be really interesting to see how the situation would change and what kind of tweets would pop up on the internet.
Some girl I went to high school with posted something on her page about the Kanye West incident where she used the n-word. What is funny is that this particular person tries to act sophisticated and classy, yet she stoops to new lows all the time. She, along with all of these other people on Twitter, is the reason white people get called racist all the time. Everyone knows Kanye West is racist. Do us white people really have to try and get on his level? Why can’t we just drop the race card and call him ignorant?

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