Updated Tuesday, October 4th, 2022, at 10:00 a.m.
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Ye took to Instagram Tuesday morning to share his thoughts on the reverberating backlash from his White Lives Matter t-shirt debacle by stating: โEveryone knows that/Black Lives Matter was a scam/Now itโs over/Youโre welcome.โ
At his surprise Yeezy show in Paris on Monday, Kanye West stunned audience members by wearing a shirt that had the words โWHITE LIVES MATTERโ in capital letters across the back. The artist, who now legally goes by Ye, also had his models sport the shirt as well.
As if that wasnโt enough, notorious right-wing political commentator Candace Owens showed up to sport her own version of the t-shirt beside West.
Following a very public fallout with the Gapโas well as an asinine call to boycott AdidasโWest debuted his highly anticipated Season 9 Yeezy collection during the Paris pop-up. However, his latest stunt reiterates how the rapper relies on race to cause controversy. Not only is it predictable, but itโs become downright pathetic.
It wasnโt that long ago that West used race as a weapon against his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, when it comes to how the former couple decided to co-parent. In reference to the entire Kardashian family, West stated that โthey play like that with Black menโs livesโ and he wasnโt โplaying about [his] Black children anymore.โ
Clearly, it was a ploy to get public sympathy as the star had no problem enabling the famous family when it came to cultural appropriating and even famously featured Kim in his videos. When it comes to the intersection of race and politics, West has consistently made dumbass decisions.
Whether it was slapping the confederate flag on his โYeezusโ tour merchandise back in 2013, endorsing Trump (he even wore a MAGA hat) and notoriously saying that slavery was a choice, he knows that discussing raceโeven when it is anti-Blackโwill cause him to become the topic of mainstream conversation.
Following his recent confession that he doesnโt read books, however, Black folks know not to take Ye seriously. However, it canโt negate the influence his words and actions still have in a culture that thrives off of the disenfranchisment of Black people.
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