Wilkine Brutus views the grand social narrative of the angry black man through the lens of Kanye West’s latest interviews.
Lurking behind Kanye West’s frequent diatribes about his fashion industry shortcomings is a historical adjective with enough punch to knockout every man who looks like him.
Black men who cannot be men without a separate, all-encompassing social identifier are just as fearful as anyone else. And like every trend, if you repeat it enough people will believe it’s a rising national threat over an urban myth with few real-life isolated occurrences.
The issue isn’t whether a trend is real, it’s whether one is willing to look at the statistics and make their own judgment, instead of being fed half-reported, subjective information and then regurgitating it rather hastily.
No one likes an underdeveloped character; it makes the full story incohesive.
Personal judgments of manhood and the intersection of race can be easily taken as absolute. There are interests behind propagating one-dimensional narratives. And in this fight to present a multi-dimensional man or man of color, nothing is more counterproductive than an individual reinforcing those stereotypes, and perhaps unknowingly fanning cross-racial fears.
By no means am I equating Kanye West to anything malicious like uncivilized street behavior. I am not. I am profoundly impressed by his undying drive to spread his ideas, his brilliant work ethic, and his bitter taste for conformity. There is, however, a more professional–more appealing way in which to spread those facets of his multi-dimensional character.
I run the risk of being wrong with my own judgment. I’m aware of that. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s at least worth the discussion because Kanye does not and should not represent all black men on planet earth. The grand social narrative, unfortunately, can say otherwise.
Ask any reader of any race if he or she likes an underdeveloped character, and you’ll taste that bitter response.
Why do I refuse to call Kanye West crazy? And what does that have to do with Barack Obama’s character? Check out the video below to find out more.
Afterwards, make sure to watch his infamous interview either before or after watching my response. Onelove!
Kanye West & “Angry Black Men” video response:
Start this video at 15:35. Kanye West outburts during Sway in the morning show:
Kanye West receives direct questions for his frequent outbursts:
–Originally published on The Vanguard Element