Kanye West is obviously a divisive figure. He's probably not the first guy I'd turn to for political opinions, but neither is Robert DeNiro or Taylor Swift or Jane Fonda. To be charitable, the celebrities who speak loudest about political issues aren't always the best advocates for the positions they're advancing.
What I don't like is that nobody wants to debate Kanye on ideas, or even address the ideas that Kanye is espousing. I mean, does he have a point about violence in Chicago? Does he have a point about how things haven't gotten much better for the poorest of black Americans over the last several decades? Has the near-total allegiance to the Democrat Party been helpful to African-Americans, or are they instead just used as a voting block? Do identity politics spring from a genuine desire to help people in certain constituencies, or just to pay lip service to them in order to get elected?
There's lots to be debated there. Instead, this is what we get from the media:
What I saw was a minstrel show today—him in front of all these white people, mostly white people embarrassing himself and embarrassing Americans but mostly African Americans
“Kanye West is what happens when Neg***s don’t read.”
"Black folks are about to trade Kanye West in the racial draft, OK .... He’s the token neg** of the Trump administration.”
Is this where we are in 2018? The thing you attack about Kanye West is... his race?
Call the guy incoherent, call him misinformed. Those may be legitimate points. Debate him on the merits. But come on, don't go for racial cheap shots.
For years, the left has been using the term "racist" as a sword against legitimate criticism. Scarily, that seems to be morphing into an even more radicalized agenda, where one's race is used against him or her as an attack. In Kanye's case, he's attacked because he's black (except using uglier language). In Susan Collins' case, prominent leftists attacked her for being a "white woman". (And let's not even get into all the leftist attacks on Lindsey Graham for allegedly being a closeted homosexual.)
The trend recently has been to "shout down" opposing speech, rather than addressing it thoughtfully. By bringing race into it, that ramps that up even further. How the hell is this okay?