Notes From D.R. | Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene

Kanye West, you can go to hell.

The self-absorbed hip-hopper ruined NBC’s “Concert for Hurricane Relief” last night with the following hate-filled comments:

“I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, "They’re looting." You see a white family, it says, "They’re looking for food." And, you know, it’s been five days because most of the people are black. And even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite because I’ve tried to turn away from the TV because it’s too hard to watch. I’ve even been shopping before even giving a donation, so now I’m calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give, and just to imagine if I was down there, and those are my people down there. So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help — with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible. I mean, the Red Cross is doing everything they can. We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way — and they’ve given them permission to go down and shoot us!…George Bush doesn’t care about black people. Please call…”

Thankfully, NBC cut away from West and switched to Chris Tucker (who’s finally out of hiding after four years).

The first portion of West’s rant had to do with an Internet controversy involving captions of two photos posted on Yahoo! News—one from the AP and one from the Agence France-Presse. The caption of a photo featuring an African-American subject claims the subject “looted” items from a store, while the caption of a photo featuring Caucasian subjects claims the subjects “found” items in a store. While the different captions do appear to be racist on first glance, this article from Snopes.com explains why that is not necessarily the case. 

West then entered into the racial-paranoia twilight-zone, alleging that race was the reason why FEMA has tripped over its own feet trying to help. This allegation does not stand up to scrutiny. As USA Today, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe have pointed out since the beginning of the year, Bush and the GOP have been making a full-court press to get more black votes. With a golden opportunity to prove “compassionate conservatism” to the impoverished African-American victims of Hurricane Katrina, why would Bush deliberately botch it?

FEMA dropped the ball because it is an incompetent bureaucratic governmental agency, not because it’s run by a bunch of Robert Byrds. If Bush really didn’t care about people of color, then why is his administration the most racially diverse in United States history?

West, who has positioned himself as the intellectual alternative to thug-and-pimp hip-hop, has flushed his credibility right down the toilet. If he ends up like Tupac and Biggie, I won’t shed even half a tear.

UPDATE: Deroy Murdock on Kanye West.

SECOND UPDATE: Matt Damon and Howard Dean can go to hell too.

THIRD UPDATE: Jonah Goldberg on Kanye West.