Kanye West's racially charged comments

[Imran Siddiqui]

Werz: It's ok. We appreciate the effort .

[Asher]

I would just like to say I loathe most rappers, and they are anything but talented.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

Kanye is a rapper aka a gangster. It seems they spend most of their free time trying to knock off the competition.

Kanye West is no gangsta. He's a suburban kid who's never hustled a day in his life.

Nor does he pretend to have, unlike, say, Tupac. He is overtly a nice middle class suburban boy, kinda like Jazzy Jazz and the Fresh Prince.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Brundlefly
I blame this whole catastrophe on the French who had the brilliant idea in 1718 to build an entire city 10' below sea level.

It wasn't below sea level then.

[Colon™]

And the centre of the city (where I presume the city to have been founded) still isn't beneath sea-level.

[edit] but has been noted before, and more eloquently at that too

[Patroklos]

He was emotional, and I can't hold too much against someone who reacts to something like this in an emotional way.

However, it is telling that his default emotional position is a racist one.

[Sava]

Originally posted by Patroklos
He was emotional, and I can't hold too much against someone who reacts to something like this in an emotional way.

I'm surprise! Thumbs up to Pat.

However, it is telling that his default emotional position is a racist one.

and one wonders why a black person would ever jump to the conclusion of racism in such a situation, what with America's fine history of race relations...

[Pekka]

There are some ... it's super complex as you all know.

FIrst of all, if you believe in something so much, and you are blinded by emotions, and you have to opportunity to speak out , would you not do that? Of course you would. Being blinded by emotions that is.


We must look into the question itself, not the claim or who made it. The question is, the real question, if this happened somewhere else, with say, the same logistical problems and distance, but with say, 100% of people being white and with good income. Would the help be faster and with greater effort and money FROM the leadership of the country or not. if the answer is no difference, then West is wrong. If the answer is yes it would be more help and faster, then West is right.

Is his claim legit, I don't know if it's legit but the question is legit. That's why he should have asked the question instead of making the claim.

He also puts things into dangerous light. First of all, there were looters, who were looting more than food and for survival. There were gangsters shooting etc, having an early Christmas. To say, that they are ALL surviving, trying to get some food and not to starve and they sent troops to kill us is basically making a racial claim that blesses this action, because if you bring up the looting now, you are being racist and not understanding what it's like to be poor and surviving, in racist America.

This is the danger aspect of the ... statement.

However, I'd like to say that the statement as a whole is not without merit. It was just said with emotions running high.

Because we do know, that many of us are tempted to overlook the also surviving people, and not separate the from looters. As in, we knew this would happen, all the gangsters that are of course all black, all those people taking advantage, I knew it, you won't see white people in this action at all. This would be .. close edge as well.

[Boris Godunov]

Re: Kanye West's racially charged comments

Originally posted by Brundlefly
Personally, I can't see that the fed's response or lack therof has anything to do with race. The fact that New Orleans is 80% black is why Kanye sees shots of black folks looting. Is a TV station supposed to wait until they get footage of white folks looting before they report that looting has occurred?

West was referring to a specific incident that has been making the rounds of the internet. It's a juxtaposition of two news photos. One shows a white couple wading through water with stuff, and the caption refers to them "finding" food. The other shows a black guy in the same situation, but refers to it as "looting."

Now, there are some easy explanations for this: It was two different news services, two different photographers (who work with editors to make the captions), and the simple fact that the first photographer may not have seen the couple in the actual act of looting, but the second may have done so for his person.

Such explanations aren't as easily available as the images, so I'm sure West was reacting very emotionally to what he thought was a case of double standards.

[Q Classic]

About Kanye West:

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
In summary, he's a talented artist but also an idiot. Pretty much like most celebrities...

QFT.

[Brundlefly]

Re: Re: Kanye West's racially charged comments

Originally posted by Boris Godunov


West was referring to a specific incident that has been making the rounds of the internet.

I see. And maybe he based his comments on this as well..



http://bushdoesntcaregame.ytmnd.com/

[Uncle Sparky]

I do believe the response would have been quicker, in fact very proactive, had the storm hit Kennebunkport, Maine.

I honestly believe the slow response was not racially motivated, but another sign of the amazing uselessness of Dubbya's reign.

[Agathon]

The problem with most of your comments is that West is right. Bush doesn't give a **** about black people.

His mother's comments show just how far from reality Shrub's family lives.

[Seeker]

About the Plasma TV issue, that guy was just thinking ahead. Eventually power will be destroyed, or pick-up trucks will become available, and that guy will have a free giant plasma TV when all those SUCKERS who took food don't have anything anymore.

It's called bettering your situation.

(err, notwithstanding the whole crime issue)

BTW, one thing I'm wondering about the whole situation is why all the focus on NO, up here in Ka-blamada it's like the hurricane and ensuing post-apocalyptic chaos only affected this ONE city.

If I was going to play the blame game, I'd blame the NOPD. They didn't have to be shooting people, but they should've at least made a token effort. I'm all for token efforts. "X" number of officers walking off the job in a crisis? (I don't know how large X is).

Lesson: Police forces should be primarily focussed on professionalism, competancy, and dedication, not doled out as poverty relief jobs and community relations.

Yes, Bush sucks (simply a given), and the whole FEMA sideshow was ridiculous, but that doesn't change the fact that municipal agencies and government in NO really, really failed to step up and go above and beyond the call of duty in a disaster.