Kanye West Doesn’t Care About White People
by Dallas JenkinsOn television, how often do you see the Heartland, the South, or innocence portrayed as positive, or as the innocent victim of thuggery or artistic elitism gone awry? If I told you that it happened over the weekend, would you have guessed that MTV was the network that aired it?
As it turns out, Joe Wilson isn’t the only inappropriate interrupter of the last week. If you haven’t seen Kanye West’s shocking-only-to-people-who-have-never-seen-or-heard-Kanye-West-perform-or-say-words outburst at the normally classy and restrained MTV Video Music Awards, take 90 seconds and watch the train wreck. I don’t want to say it was awkward, but I haven’t seen a performer arouse that many embarrassed faces since…well, since Kanye West did the exact same thing at the European VMAs in 2007, which at the time was the most awkward TV moment since Kanye West hijacked a Katrina charity TV show to rant that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.“
A lot of people are focusing on what a jackass he was (UPDATE: Apparently President Obama actually used the word “jackass” to describe him, which I just found out, and which gives the President a couple bonus points in my book), but that’s too easy. I’m choosing to focus on the bright side for a few moments before I **SPOILER ALERT** play the race card. The bright side inspired my opening paragraph, which was sincere. Think about what happened in this moment, because it’s not something you’ll see too often in entertainment.
Hip people don’t like country music. They don’t like the performers or the fans unless a performer alienates its fans by saying something hip, like the Dixie Chicks. Hip people don’t like innocence unless it’s portrayed in some sort of ironic way, like a vixen in a school girl uniform, or a young child with a knife behind its back. Hip people do like controversy and people who push the envelope, which is why they liked the “wardrobe malfunction” at the Super Bowl. They loved the idea that a bunch of heartland families recoiled in shock as something traditionally innocent like the Super Bowl was invaded by hipness.
MTV is for hip people.
But hipness took a hit at the VMAs, as normally hip people saw its ugly side. Wide-eyed heartland girl Taylor Swift was expressing her shock at receiving her award, acknowledging that as a country singer she wasn’t a favorite to win on MTV, when Kanye West literally grabbed the mic from her and tried to remind everyone that the hip choice wasn’t made. A few people cheered (as MTV teens are wont to do whenever a person holding a mic emits sound), but most people booed or acted shocked. After Kanye walked off the stage, the crowd started to cheer Taylor even more. Kanye, an MTV icon, was kicked out. Later, Beyonce won a big award and invited Taylor back onstage to finish her speech. Classy move. And the response to the moment has been overwhelmingly negative towards Kanye and positive towards Taylor. This can only help her albums and hurt his, which is cool.
I consider it a nice moment. Period. Good triumphed over bad.
No need to make this about race.
Buuuutttt… since in the last week conservatives have been accused of being racist by Maureen Dowd (referring to Joe Wilson), Bill Maher (referring to Drudge), and Acorn (referring to Fox for showing video of black people talking), I thought I’d take a moment to ask a few hypothetical questions. To be clear–I’m NOT saying that Kanye West is a racist, I just have a few questions.
Consider:
What would the reaction have been if Beyonce had won the award and Toby Keith had rushed the stage, grabbed the mic out of her hands, and yelled to the crowd that Taylor Swift should have won?
If this scene had played out as fiction in a feature film, how would the media elite have reacted to a scene perpetuating the stereotype of a black man aggressively grabbing something from the hands of a southern white girl?
Do you think we’ll be seeing any columns from Maureen Dowd or Entertainment Weekly pointing out racial undertones in the moment, mentioning Kanye’s history of discussing race or pointing out that the times he’s rudely interrupted a televised moment have all involved white people? Such as when he lost the Best New Artist award to, as he called her, “Redneck Woman” Gretchen Wilson, and stormed out of the American Music Awards in protest?
When do you think we’ll hear from Gloria Steinem or Gloria Allred defending Taylor as a victim of male domination (especially since MTV didn’t let her finish her speech because Kanye had caused her to run out of time), mentioning the history of female treatment in hip hop music?
Will the Southern Defense Coalition or the White Anti-Defamation League be making any statements?
Just curious…
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517 Comments
"What would the reaction have been if Beyonce had won the award and Toby Keith had rushed the stage, grabbed the mic out of her hands, and yelled to the crowd that Taylor Swift should have won?"
Oh! Oh! Ask me! Ask me!
EVERYONE knows what would happen in that scenario….
Brilliant assessment.
Kanye West is a racist
I suppose one of the few mitigating circumstances about Obama's election was it removed the Teflon from Kanye within the entertainment community he had earned for his rants against Bush after Katrina. Had McCain won the election, odds are pretty good West could have gone up there and smashed his Hennessy bottle on top of Swift's head like he was christening an ocean liner and he would have had much larger number of defenders of his right to keep it real.
Better yet, suppose Mr. West had tried to jerk a microphone our of Mr. Keith's hand……..I think they'd still be scraping Mr. West's parts from the stage as of today.
This story has gone on about 3 days to long. Forget about it.
Sometimes articles on this blog written by non-writers are a real stretch. But this one is right on target. Excellent points made, and made well.
Kanye West Doesn’t Care About White People
I suppose that's OK, as I don't care about Kanye West.
Kanye's always been an arrogant piece of s**t – he finally just picked a target that even MTV's audience thought was too far. Same with Perez Hilton and all his garbage. But, like usual, give him a couple months and he'll be back to normal and all will be forgotten.
Honestly, a gigantic crack in the Earth could open up and swallow all of these people and I wouldn't shed 1 tear.
Even Robin from the Howard Stern show eluded that Kanye's act was racial. Yes a beautiful, smart, rich woman in the entertainment industry spoke out.
“George Bush doesn’t care about black people.“
What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Totally agree.
He's still a gay fish.
west luvs the honkies and crackers – they are stupid enough to buy his crap and he laughs all the way to the bank
Wow I had a very salient point on this topic and the administrator is blocking it, though it contained no profanity or inflammatory remarks. Common Big Hollywood!
LOL! "I am not a gay fish!"
I went and bought Taylor's album the day after Kanye pulled his drunken moron act. I'd always meant to do it but never gotten around to it. Was that racist?
Sort of like a black Napoleon complex?
You're giving this guy too much respect by calling him Mr.
You're giving this guy too much respect by calling him Mr. He's a punk.
I think Spike Lee suffers from it too
Kanye is a dillusional man who thinks he is the greatest human being to ever record music, so therefore everything he says and does is perfectly okay in his book.
Unfortunatly, he's going to keep doing this crap and getting away with it, because he'll always have fans apologizing for his behavior.
I could not believe the stuff people have been posting on other message boards defending this guy:
"He was drunk. We all do things when we're drunk."
"People are acting like he jumped up on stage and hit her"
"Oh, that's what he does."
I guess if he did hit her, the apologists would be saying "It's not lik he killed her!"
Kanye West hates white people. He is a racist. Too bad Taylor Swift's father, brother, uncle or some other chivalrous man did not come on stage and give West the beat down he deserved.
[...] Kanye West Doesnât Care About White People [...]
I think you're right!!!
me too and can't even go back to re-edit…
Kind of a walking contradiction this guy…. His performance on Leno's new show was priceless. Torn to pieces after Leno mentioned his mother and then straight back to the rap game… Well done. Well done.
http://republicanredefined.com/uncategorized/pres...
[...] More here: Kanye West Doesn’t Care About White People [...]
When my kid went to see Kanya West a couple of years back she told me that it was practically an all white crowd.
WORD!!! HE IS A LITTLE GAY FISH NAPOLEAN DOUCHEBAG ISN'T HE?
ya, that's what helps make the South Park (Gayfish) episode so funny…he's dumb as a rock too…
who says America ISN'T the land of opprotunity? Kanye does ehatever it is he does to make lot's o' $$$, acts like a complete ass often, flys around the world in a private airliner drinking congac and I hafta take my shoes off in friggin' England to get on a damn plane…
Everything wrong with western society is represented perfectly by Kanye West. The education offered by the American public school system, which is almost non-existent, coupled with a generation coddled beyond all measure, The Confetti Generation (it's always about me, I'm the star, etc)… he is right in one thing; in many, many ways he IS the face of his generation.
(All apologies to the many wonderful and upstanding members of said generation. James. Hanna. Many more. I'm not that much older than you are, but your upbringing is by-and-large not something I can relate to. A guy like Kanye West would have have had his ego beaten out of him by his older brothers or father in any previous generation. No different than a guy like Eminem, btw. Both are not real men in any sense but chronological age.)
ya, that's what helps make the South Park (Gayfish) episode so funny…he's dumb as a rock too…
who says America ISN'T the land of opprotunity? Kanye does whatever it is he does to make lot's o' $$$, acts like a complete ass often, flys around the world in a private airliner drinking congac and I hafta take my shoes off in friggin' England to get on a damn plane…
Never a can of mace when you need it.
I would re-edit mine but it is far less offensive or controversial than most of what is already posted here, so I wouldn't know where to start. I am really disappointed with BH right now.
yup, unbelieveable…
this whitekid/black rap paradigm has to eventually run it's course, right?
I lover hendrix as a kid (he was already dead) but I thought he was actually musically talented…
can this guy actually sing, or rap, juggle, do card tricks or whatever?
I had that problem yesterday on Big Government, i think they recalibrated the filters…
have you no shame?
and he's a gayfish…
For the record, the "southern" Ms. Swift is from Pennsylvania, as opposed to Kanye, who's clearly from Out of his Ever-Loving Mind…
Kanye West=GAY FISH
For once ould it or could it be possible that this type of guy, mainly known for being inappropriate, could fade into obscurity. On the boards they say he is a great producer but since I know nothing of RAP/Hip Hop I cannot say. Producion is probably of paramount concern since real musical talent is not usually in sight.
ya…in some ways it's too bad there isn't a little bloody grease spot on the stage where Kanye once stood.
Kanye doesn't care about anyone but Kanye…
It happens from time to time and I am not convinced that some of these glitches at this and other conservative sites is the direct actions of hackers. If a hacker can bust into a site vs. denial of service attack (easy to do) then they can screw around with the underlying code running the site. Anybody know if there is any truth to this theory?
It happens from time to time and I am convinced that some of these glitches at this and other conservative sites is the direct actions of hackers. If a hacker can bust into a site vs. denial of service attack (easy to do) then they can screw around with the underlying code running the site. Anybody know if there is any truth to this theory?
Gay Fish. South Park rocks on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
they ran "Gayfish" on Comedy Central back to back FOUR TIMES IN A ROW the other night.
Sammy Davis Jr. DEFINATELY was afflicted!
Ol' Sammy Davis Jr. had more real talent in one little finger than Kanye or any of these clowns have in their whole collective bodies, combined.
They'd be using a squeegee…
In my imagination someone would have tried this sort of thing when Lee Marvin was alive. If Lee Marvin had been the oresenter at an awards show and some lowlife tried to pull a stunt like this, especially against a teenaged girl, Smackdown would have been too mild a word. He wasn't only a Hollywood badass but he was one in real life too.
In my imagination someone would have tried this sort of thing when Lee Marvin was alive. If Lee Marvin had been the presenter at an awards show and some lowlife tried to pull a stunt like this, especially against a teenaged girl, smackdown would have been too mild a word. He wasn't only a Hollywood badass but he was one in real life too.
If that had happened, then the "act of chivalry" would have been lost – there would have been huge racial accusations because a white man beat on a (smaller) black man.
That was the funniest thing i ever saw in my life. I watched it all 4 times.
Remember Eminem getting a face-full of Borat Butt? Publicity stunt. Kanye West appearing on the first night of Jay Leno the day after he did this? Publicity Stunt.
Barrack Obama saying on tape to ABC (the 24 hour Healhcare commercial channel) Kanye is a jackass. Remember the lesson of Ronald Reagan…done puposefully. Calm the whitey's down..show them you think the same thing about Kanye as they do.
All of this crap is manufactured. And MTV is for hip people. the last time this was true David Byrne was "letting the days go by" .
I have no proof nor do I know that this theory is true, but I put nothing past anyone!
now THAT is funny!
You must be racist, like me. Heck, I'm not even white.
That guy (can't even say his name now because of the nausea factor) should have been kneed in the jewels by Taylor Swift but then that would have changed the whole dynamic of the event so she was wise not to make the attempt. That guy (again, with the nausea) is merely a footnote in the whole span of human history. Beyonce? I may just have to buy one of her albums.
Yeah, it really bugs me that a white man shouts "He lies" from the audience to a black president (which actually has a basis in reality) and Bill Cosby, President Carter and several others call the white man a "racist". On the other hand a black man walks all the way up to the stage and yanks the mic away from a white girl and proceeds to lambaste her and he's just called a "jackass". Black people are somehow completely incapable of being racists, they can only be VICTIMS of racism. They can use the N word all they want, talk about treating black women horribly, make fun of white people, or just completely disrespect them and it's all fine and dandy.
If black people TRULY want racism to end, if that is what they REALLY want, then they have to take a good hard look in the mirror. They need to stop acting like racists. And with people constantly accusing others of being racist, with absolutely no proof whatsoever that it's actually a correct label, it's never going to end. But that seems to be exactly what they want, they get more mileage by perpetuating racism than ending it.
So make up your minds, are we going to continue propagating racism, or are we going to end it? Because you can't have it both ways.
I recorded it and got strange looks over a pair of glasses perchered on the nose (Charlie Gibson stlye)
of a certain brunette…
I read that he does this ALOT, just another reason I don't watch award shows.
I don't think it's any sort of racism or at least the classic sense. In Kanye West's world, the most important person in it is Kanye West. It's ego. He has to make himself the story. So when he came up on stage, surley drunk off his a$$, he was thinking all the press he would get at a pretty white girl's expense.
He didn't expect the backlash.
Taylor Swift isn't from the south or the "heartland." She's from Pennsylvania.
Also–anyone else find it hilarious that a couple posts below this one is a thread about how unfair it is to call someone a racist when you have no "proof"?
I know the underlying structure is not the rock of stability a lot of people imagine, it is just I have noticed similar problems on other conservative sites and non-political…not so much. It probably has more to do with underlying structure than ideology but there is that coinsidence.
I would love to have watched Taylor Swift deck the little turd right there on the stage. And I imagine, like most hip people, he is all talk an no action, so I'm pretty sure she could have done it. Wouldn't that have been the perfect ending to this scene?
I'm inclined to agree. Probably orchestrated by the NEA. Kanye's just taking a bullet for the messiah.
I agree. The cure for attention-w_____ is the exact opposite of the cure for mold. Quit giving Kanye the satisfaction.
On the other hand, I would love to see what would happen to Kanye if he was to ever interrupt Toby Keith or another man who doesn't take too kindly to being interrupted or disturbed by a narcissistic idiot.
He has the prodigious neck/ear/nose strength to wear colossal sunglasses at all hours of the day, or night. That's kind of impressive. I guess.
[...] Kanye West Storms the VMAs Stage During Taylor Swift’s Speech Dallas Jenkins, Big Hollywood: Kanye West Doesn’t Care About White People Breitbart.tv: Kanye West Crashes VMA Stage During Taylor Swift’s Award Speech Daily Beast: Leave [...]
You think if a white artist was to interrupt a black artists acceptance speech in order to espouse another white artist, Rev. Al, Rev. Jackson, Prez. Obama and a plethora of other race baiters would have let it go. They would milk it for months or even years. As Rahm (el communista) Emmanuel says, why waste a tragedy.
The word w____, as in attention-w____, Hannah Giles' character in The Nutcracker: Acorns don't fall far from the Tree, or someone who takes money for the act of copulation is lately under the auto-mod's thumb.
[...] Wilson Apologizes, But Still Thinks Obama Wasn’t Honest Dallas Jenkins, Big Hollywood: Kanye West Doesn’t Care About White People The Powers That Be: Kanye, I Thought George W. Bush Was the President Who Dissed Black People [...]
It's not like he peed on her or anything!
/sarc
[...] and grabs microphone during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech Dallas Jenkins, Big Hollywood: Kanye West Doesn’t Care About White People GayPatriot: Classy & Classless Greg Gutfeld, Big Hollywood: Daily Gut: Forget Kanye, It’s [...]
She's an Honorary Southerner.
I've had the interesting experience of logging on to either here or hot air and have received a trojan program in return. I'm just saying… Close scruitiny froms somewhere?
Toby Keith would've never done anything as despicable as that because he's an adult.
If any one ever had a death wish its this guy…….why do you bother? His entire sub culture is an aberration.
Okay, you guys stop yapping about Joe Wilson and the allegation that what he did was "racist" and we'll call it even. In fact, drop all "race cards" during the remainder of Obama's first (and hopefully only term) and we'll call it more than even – it would be a frickin' miracle.
How do you know he drinks Hennessy?
Kanye West Is a racist AND a Jack@ss. I don't care about him as a person; but I DO care that HE KNEW he could get away with a boorish act and face little or no flak for it. Bring back shaming.
You do know that some parts of Pennsylvania are called Alabama North, don't you?
Do you people really care WHAT he thinks. The homosapien is a no talent moron!! (that is if you call "Hip/Hop" talent). (And a goofy haircut to boot) White people …WAKE UP and smell the roses!!! You will ALWAYS have racism in this country as long as humans walk the face of the earth. If you think otherwise, your a dope just like that idiot West!!!
Well, then, by definition you can't be a racist. It's the last remaining "whites only" club.
Blacks are there own worst enemy. In less than ten years this rap crap will be ancient history, and all these "talented" rappers will be back in there "hood" on there turf ,mugging and killing each other and others!
Again…THEY WILL DO THEMSELVES IN..JUST A MATTER OF TIME
It's hype, having worked in the entertainment industry, controversy is all they want, the more an artist's name is spoken the more drive he has (and sales). Alot of times when they air shocking things in the news people get, well, shocked and talk about it in opposite manners to defend a certain favorable criteria – in which most cases the actual wronger (Kanye) and righter (Taylor) are proooobably in the background watching their plan be built.
It's a nasty industry out there and it seems that the more time that passes, the worse it gets.. don't get so involved with other peoples business, it's why the world is so corrupt.
-Mike Styles
AR
t-h-e-y are there own worst enemy!!!!!!
Next consider the lack of a response from blacks in the audience. Now granted it all happened pretty quickly but not one black male stood up to shout down Kanye. Ideally someone should have bum rushed the stage, bitch slapped Kanye, and lead him off by his ear. But a white man doing that would have been viewed as an act of racism, so it could only come from a black man. But there was nothing. The best we got was a sheepish statement from the house band’s MC, Wale, who could only muster “Well you can’t blame a man for speaking his mind”. Wow! Could you be anymore impotent! It won’t surprise me in the least if we finally hear from Al Sharpton on this, as he will publicly attack the white record executives for giving Kanye a record deal in the first place. You think that is absurd? Well he’s done it before. continued
To her credit Beyonce showed a lot of class and character by giving her time to Taylor to have her moment. But even this fell a little short of expectations. Why didn’t Beyonce come out and publicly denounce Kanye’s actions as atrocious and unacceptable? Now you have to remember that this is the type of behavior we have come to expect or is considered acceptable from Kanye a well-to-do black person in American society. And until I hear someone from the black community speak up about these issues, I have no reason to believe that it will ever change for the better. I do hope Beyonce is considering a restraining order against Mr. West cause that was a little awkward/inappropriate, in a creepy stalker sort of way.
So you see this has everything to do with race. Finally, before anyone labels me a racist I would hope that you first point out where any of my above statements are false. And then I will hope that before you excoriate me for having my own OPINIONS, that you will first excoriate the negative forces behind black culture for it’s own ACTIONS. I think Kanye West would be an appropriate place to start!
Oh my god, that means I am a white racist in a brown man's body. The horror! The self loathing!
Racists come in every color.
He was seen holding a bottle of Hennessy on the red carpet before the award ceremony. He also has performed at concerts sponsored as Hennessy advertisements. See this link: http://www.bizbash.com/newyork/content/editorial/...
Kanye, like other rappers, depends upon an asinine and anti-social image. He probably lost more fans by apologizing than by hogging the limelight.
Postcard from Diversity Training: Black racism = Acceptable; White racism = Unacceptable.
Postcard from the Real World: Racism = Unacceptable.
When is the spineless MSM going to resume some semblance of integrity and start calling out the real racists? They might start with Robert Byrd.
West is an immature, narcissistic boor. The people who admire immature, narcissistic boors because they think the boors are cool are fools. The contempt such people show for authentic, straightforward normal people is a marker of their own neurotic deficiencies. Still, it is not worth spending much energy having active contempt for Kanye or his supporters – being who they are is the worst punishment you could wish on them.
Kanye who? ……Wow….one of my favorite moments in movie history on tv….MISSION TO MARS….Tim Robbins floating helplessly off into space for eternity……that vacant look in his eyes….just like in real life so not much acting going on but still……drifting drifting drifting……
Ah, you beat me to it.
I KNOW! My friend was posting about it on FB and we were cracking up!
Hey you, he's a frickin' genius! The voice of our generation! And his hair is swirly! He's like, OMG I don't even know. SO AMAZING!
I mean, uh, what did I just say? Ooooops, I think I forgot to charge my brain. BRB.
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