The Quotable Kanye West

On last Friday night’s telecast, “A Concert for Hurricane Relief,” aired on the networks of NBC, the tone was appropriately somber. As the death toll from Hurricane Katrina continued to rise, celebrities—many of whom had ties to New Orleans—raised money for the American Red Cross and its relief efforts. A parade of celebs took the stage—Harry Connick, Jr., The Neville Brothers, Mike Myers, Chris Tucker—reading prepared scripts which tugged at heartstrings and purse-strings alike.

And yes, we’re getting to Kanye West and his deviation from that script.
But first I have a few cards to put on the table: I am incredibly biased. The platform that a pop-culture column provides for its writer’s political views is shaky at best. And although I occasionally use this space to follow (and untangle) the political threads and webs that inevitably unite celebrities for and against common causes, it is a constant struggle to keep my own political views out of this column.

On the other hand, I have made no secret of my respect for Kanye West; I think he is a producer, artist, and activist of the highest caliber. His new album, “Late Registration,” is currently the bestselling album in the country, and “Rolling Stone” magazine just gave it a glowing (and rare) five-star review. As an artist he stands, head and shoulders, above the crowd.

During the telecasted concert, West strayed from the prepared script. He attacked the media’s coverage of hurricane victims. “I hate the way they portray us in the media,” he began. “If you see a black family, it says they’re looting; you see a white family, it says they’re looking for food.” While acknowledging that the Red Cross is “doing everything they can,” he claimed that the federal government was “set up to help the poor, the black people, the less-well-off, as slow as possible.” Then he sealed the deal. He put the exclamation point on his rant with a statement that would echo throughout the weekend’s newscasts: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

NBC Universal immediately released a statement saying, “Tonight’s telecast was a live television event wrought with emotion. Kanye West departed from the scripted comments that were prepared for him, and his opinions in no way represent the views of the networks. It would be most unfortunate if the efforts of the artists who participated tonight and the generosity of millions of Americans who are helping those in need are overshadowed by one person’s opinion.”

In my opinion, the real issue isn’t whether Kanye’s assessment of the federal relief efforts is correct. It’s not whether George Bush “cares about black people.” And it’s not a First Amendment issue. When it comes to freedom of speech issues, I’m proponent number one. The real issue is whether West should have used a benefit concert for the Red Cross to voice his displeasure with the George Bush, and I don’t think he should have.

It’s easy to call a press conference to speak out against perceived injustices. If West would’ve called one, the press would’ve shown up. Using a program that was intended to unite Americans to aid in relief efforts as a way to divide Americans along partisan or racial lines was an ill-advised misstep on West’s part, and I hope it didn’t discourage a single donation to the American Red Cross.

-From Pulse
September 8, 2005