by Eugene on Wed Sep 07, 2005 9:03 am
I'm not going to offer any opinion on the issue of race. That takes a lot more thought and time than I'm willing to commit right now.
I think the problem with Kanye West's rant on NBC was that it was inappropriate. Again, whether what he said is true is irrelevant--in fact, that whole discussion is irrelevant. What matters right now is the survivors of Katrina and the rebuilding effort.
West's statement is controversial and divisive and it distracts people from the real issue at hand, and the relief effort concert was certainly not the place to bring it up. When someone makes an extreme statement, that is, when he takes an extreme position to one side, inevitably, there are people who are going to oppose that stance. That is the definition of what a controversial statement is. And really, that wasn't the point of the concert and it was nearsighted of West to make that statement at that time. Not only are there going to be more people who lash out at Bush (because he is such an easy target, justified or not), there's going to be people who (unfairly, simply because of the statement) lash out towards Kanye West and the black community as a whole.
The question is, is that something we need right now?