Along with millions of others, I recently watched Kanye West rant about how slavery “sound[ed] like a choice” live on TMZ (pretty sure his mama rolled over in her grave). He also advocated to repeal the 13th Amendment (not even dealing with this dumbassery), and publicly aligned himself with the current occupant of the White House. He proclaimed himself a free-thinker while also accusing Black people of being plantation-minded and mentally enslaved if they didn’t support his MAGA propositions (yes, I approach that slogan like it’s a virulent manifesto).
West then not-so-quickly sought to distance himself—without withdrawing his statements—from politics after getting swept up in an (anti-) Black conservative movement. West turned to Twitter claiming he felt like he was being used to spread messages he doesn’t believe in.
No, this column isn’t about the West’s espoused politics. It’s about what he relies on to defend his position: free thought.
But before I dive into that, a quick side note: “Blexit” is not a thing in the Black community. We have every intention of staying in the land our ancestors bled and died for. People should expect us to continue to demand respect, equal justice and an end to institutions and practices that perpetuate white supremacy. Conservative commentator and Blexit-pusher Candace Owens is a bigoted shyster running for head-overseer of the plantation state that far too many white people want to restart.
Sorry, it had to be said. OK, so let’s discuss freethinking.
Free thought is the philosophical viewpoint that positions related to truth are based on logic, reason, and empirical evidence rather than blind adherence to authority, tradition, dogma or ideological revelations. At least, that’s what free thought used to mean. Now it’s less a guiding philosophy and more a catchphrase thrown out to cover up for being uninformed and/or full of shit.
Generally, those who fancy themselves freethinkers simply mean that they form opinions and make judgments based solely on their personal perception of the world or their store of knowledge. They form these opinions and judgments no matter how skewed the logic by rejecting outside influence—particularly from those with any authority on the matter. Most pride themselves on being nonconformist and thrive on the fallout that accompanies voicing a controversial opinion. It’s not that they can’t hear contradictory facts; it’s that they don’t care about them. These freethinkers live in an echo chamber of one.
I grew up in a household where it was commonplace to hear “look it up,” when I questioned a reference or asked what something meant. My parents should’ve just engraved “you don’t have to be in class to read a book” over the doors of our home. If I bitched about my job as a nanny or in the drive-thru of a fast food restaurant, I heard, “go to college so you can get a different kind of job” every time. If I couldn’t explain my reasoning behind any opinion, then I couldn’t hold it up as a rational truth. Objective facts could be discussed, but weren’t up for debate. I was free to think what I pleased, but I damn well better be able to back it up in fact-based, deductive and declarative sentences. Citations were expected, as my mama don’t play.
Currently, 28.7 million people follow Kanye West on Twitter. He gained most of those (one can assume) through his music, lyrical content, and/or previous unapologetic willingness to call out the powerful for the gross neglect of Black people at large. But his recent behavior makes it clear that “college drop-out” refers to more than the title of his breakout debut album.
The version of freethinking West subscribes to is rooted in willful ignorance and a disdain toward the educated. Despite speaking eloquently about police brutality and lack of opportunity for Black people in his lyrics, West deliberately takes a hypocritical political position and blindly defends it to prove he’s different from most Black people without investigating why they believe as they do. That’s not freethinking. That’s being arbitrary and capricious.
West is also enamored with achieved power regardless of the cost. For him, winning the White House when people said it was impossible is reason enough to embrace the winner regardless of how he did it or what he intends to do once in power. So, yes, it’s dangerous that West acts as though endorsing a man leaning into hate speech and anti-Black rhetoric is inconsequential simply because he says so. It’s even more of a concern that West has little interest in reasoning his way to understanding.
West proudly exhibits a serious lack of knowledge about historically significant events or even objective facts. He often struggles to articulate a rational basis for his opinions. He blatantly rejects information that fails to support the conclusion he wants to draw. On more than one occasion, he has disparaged friends offering neutral (non-political) information sources to him. He becomes belligerent when he’s asked to become informed before speaking out.
Sound like anyone else we know?
I’m not just bashing someone with an unpopular opinion or disdain for a minority (in the Black community) point of view. Kanye West can’t critically think his way out of a paper bag, but that’s only a problem because he’s just a high-profile example of this mindset. In the end, I’m really confused why so many people proudly stay ill-informed? When did educating oneself become some kind of liberal trap?
Ignorance is not bliss if it means we get hoodwinked.