Ye: New Name, Same Anti-Semitism

Kanye “Ye” West has been banned by social media platforms Instagram and Twitter, and has lost several sponsorships due to his controversial posts. 

   On the two social media platforms Kanye West blatantly posted many anti-semitic posts, which were not taken lightly. The action by Twitter came after Instagram removed a post from his account and similarly locked his account temporarily. Jamie Lee Curtis, an actress, had spoken about the tweets on the TODAY Show with Honda Kotb, “The Holiest day in Judaism was last week. Words matter. A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide. Your words hurt and incite violence. You are a father. Please stop.” 

   Adding onto Curtis’ words, Ye statements that he posted on twitter can be dangerous and very troubling to the public eye and can tear the Jewish community down because of his hurtful and offensive words.  

   In response to this, petitions were gathered with over 169,100 signatures urging Adidas to sever ties with West. Adidas soon ended its partnership with West, saying it “does not tolerate anti-semitism”. Adidas’ decision cost West his billionaire status because without his Adidas deal, his net worth dropped to $400 million, which comes from his music. “Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness,” said Adidas on their company website. Furthermore, Adidas’ decision was acceptable and correct and I have gained much respect for their work to stop hate from spreading and understanding how important it is to associate with celebrities who promote love. 

   West is not the “free thinker” that many on the right proclaim. He’s simply a mouthpiece for white-nationalism, anti-semitism, and right-wing propaganda. Everything he’s said has been said before. West has posted “death con 3 on jewish people”. Ye was referring to Defcon, a military defense redness system to perceive threats to national security. 

   Earlier in October, West wore a “White Lives Matter ” T-shirt and dressed several Black models in clothing with the same phrase at his YEEZY runway show at Paris fashion week. “I thought the shirt was a funny shirt, the idea of me wearing it was funny,” said West.  When questioned by his father, who he called an “educated ex-Black Panther”, and asked why he thought it was funny, Ye replied  “just a black man stating the obvious”. However, the “White Lives Matter” movement is run by bigotry, racism, and completely undermines the “Black Lives Matter” movement.

Kanye may only care about the damage his continuing disclination to acknowledge the cost of people he denigrates may be much more harmful.