Racism still exists because......

“Perfect example. I know there are white trash out there that couldnt' be convinced otherwise. Your are hurting your cause you ignorant hypocrite. TOTALLY Uncalled for, classless act in my opinion.

His album "COLLEGE DROPOUT" includes:

The artist credits God with helping him survive a serious car crash (“Through the Wire”). He expresses a love and need for Christ on “Jesus Walks.” Lines take issue with absentee fathers (“We Don’t Care”), materialism (“All Falls Down”) and the racism that sparked the civil rights movement (“Never Let Me Down”).

All the while his album contains

Obscene language includes numerous f-words. Drug dealing and tax fraud are acceptable ways for the urban poor to earn cash on “We Don’t Care.” Angry threats against authority figures include, “‘F--- the police,’ that’s how I treat ’em” (“All Falls Down”) and “If my manager insults me again/I will be assaulting him”(“Spaceship”). The latter also endorses employee theft. “Get ’Em High” is an ode to marijuana that includes crude sexual slang and considers dropping out of college a bold, positive step. West’s disdain for education pops up again on “School Spirit” and three skits. Hennessy, blunts and oral sex from anonymous women is “The New Workout Plan.” As if sex, drugs and alcohol alone aren’t salacious enough, “Breathe In Breathe Out” adds guns and a girl eager to videotape her illicit encounter with the artist. “Last Call” emphasizes booze and bragging.

Nice title for an album. Makes me want to reach for the stars!!!!. Im not saying racism doesnt' exist. However, this is just ignorant.
last edited: 9/04/05 1:22:59 AM”

“huh?”

“You are a rapper. This gives you absolutely 0 expertise on anything except rhyming and bling bling. Just some info for you:

"On 2 July 2005 West appeared on the Philadelphia bill of Live 8, using the global platform to refer to "man-made diseases placed in African communities", expressing his belief that AIDS was created by the U.S. government to exterminate Africans in Africa (see also OPV AIDS hypothesis). He made the parallel between the government using AIDS to exterminate Africans and using crack to destroy African-American communities and halt the civil rights movement. He also criticised politicians for "riding home in their Benzs and Bentleys while poor Africans starve"

Are you serious???????

I guess you know the plight of the average American in your 6 mercedes and whatever else we get to see on MTV cribs.

"West also inherited a heart for activism as his grandparents were heavily involved in the civil rights movement and his father had once been a member of the Black Panthers"

What would society say if a white singer whose parents were in the KKK had come out and said such a thing.

His album promotes the fact he dropped out of college. If he really wants to make an impact, why doesn't he promote black americans to go to college. His profession is equivalent to that of a pro athlete. How many kids grow up to be successful artist or athletes. I bet it is less than 0.125%.

Im sorry, Im just angry. Everyone has their right to an opinion, so here's mine. Do I really want to give money to anything associated with Kanye West. NO

He absolutely hurt the fund raiser. Im open to your opinions. I just don't agree with his.”

“This fool makes 4 now. I suspect they are from the other side....perhaps they are all the same person.

Sad little man.


Come to think of it, could even be s-rge.
last edited: 9/04/05 2:11:09 AM”

“Couldn't remember my password so I had to come up with something else. Now call me a fool with something more intelligent than your last statement”

“You can't even remember your own own password.

LOL
last edited: 9/04/05 2:20:14 AM”

“The little man is getting smaller.”

“Damn, you're smart. Don't overwhelm me with your intelligent comments

Little man?? Enlighten me
last edited: 9/04/05 2:25:37 AM”

“"Enlighten me"

Somehow I don't think thats possable...LOL”

“Perhaps I'll see ya later....





















if you can remember your password.”

“That's all you can say???

FYI it's possible, not possable
last edited: 9/04/05 2:45:12 AM”

“Damn, busted by the spelling cops.

I'm going to lose sleep over that one.
last edited: 9/04/05 2:51:49 AM”

“I give up. If you could have stopped LOL at yourself and said something intelligent we could have proceeded with the topic, however, it's time to say goodnight steve”

“Ya gotta flip the script when it comes this type of stuff. Let’s see, if a white singer had said, “I know there are niggars out there that couldn’t be convinced otherwise.” What would have happened? Would it be ok? Hell no.

West is a frickin’ poser to the max. His dad wasn’t an absentee father and the guy had a great childhood in the burbs. His dad is an college English professor. This guy’s as street as Saquil O’Neal is Irish.”

“Visions of Shaq and anything Irish is pretty funny.”

“Racism is dead Iccosizzle.”

“Someone says something you don't like, and you try to place more significance on it than there is.”

“"Do I really want to give money to anything associated with Kanye West. NO"

To suggest that a large organization, doing their best to raise money for tens of thousands of homeless, does not deserve a donation because of one idiot is not very intelligent.

I suspect here are a couple jerks in the National Guard, are you suggesting that we don't support them because of that?”

“Raising money for this relief effort is EXTREMELY significant.

It is very significant to me and I am sure others feel resentful and angry to the same degree.

If 1,000 people who would donate $10 dollars felt the say way I do, that is a $10,000 difference. That is significant.

Steve, you're right. The action of one ignorant person should not dissuade people from donating to the relief effort. However, there are other ways to contribute and my donations or help will not be associated with this fundraiser.

It's fine by me that he feels this way. Although I disagree, he has every right to say the things he said. However, in my opinion it was not the right place or time. Even if he felt like it was the right time, he could have said it many other ways that would not have provoked this sort of response.

BOTTOMLINE: Does anyone think that his comments helped to raise more money?”

“In hindsight, the title of the thread is a little out of bounds. However, Kanye West's comments only build walls and expand gaps between races at a time when we should come together to focus on those in need without regard to race.

A better time to bring these issues up would be when reflecting back and figuring out ways to better handle situations like these and problems associated with this relief effort.

lots of run on sentences there, but you get the point.”

“whose comments?”

“Why does racism exist?

Lurker's theories:

1) Separation of the races/classes: We like to think that we are a mobile society without class structure. But just try buying a New York Times or finding a Barnes and Noble in a working class town.

We are, for the most part, separated into little groups. Every town with a significant black population within a hundred miles of me ends up looking like a bottle of unmixed Italian salad dressing. Usually there is a railroad track in the middle to separate the races.

There are lots of theories about why this happens, but the axiom "It's not what you know, but who you know" still is pretty true.

2) Scapegoat. People like to have someone to blame. Blacks blame whites for poverty. That sometimes is true. Sometimes it's not. Poor and working class whites also need someone to blame. So, it's easy to blame that black neighborhood across the tracks that you don't have any contact with.

That way, no one has to face the fact that most people F up their own lives.

3) Politics: It is in the best interests of the Democrats to keep blacks voting 90% for Democrats. Bitterness towards whites is one way to do that.

It is also in the best interests of Republicans to maintain support within poor white communities. One way to do this is to help them keep the affirmative action and other myths going.

Add water and you have New Orleans.”

““Someone says something you don't like, and you try to place more significance on it than there is.”

I'll remember this when Trent Lott says something about race.”

“The day Kayne West becomes leader of the Senate then I'll worry about it.”

“Racism exists today because a few people like Rev. Al and Rev. Jesse need racism to further their own ambitions and causes. Plain and simple.”

“The Manassas City Council decided last night to repeal a controversial ordinance that made it illegal for extended relatives such as aunts, uncles and cousins to live together as a family and that targeted the city's growing Latino population.

Faced with the promise of lawsuits by numerous civil rights groups, the prospect of a federal investigation and pressure from residents, council members unanimously decided to look for a different way to address parking and other problems they associate with crowded housing and, more broadly, illegal immigration.

Last night, civil rights groups praised the decision, saying it was important because other municipalities were contemplating similar rules and, at a time when it seems that anti-immigrant feelings are ripe for political exploitation, it sent a message that discrimination would not be tolerated.

"We're satisfied they have rectified their mistake, but this experience allowed us to see that there is a risk, that the community has to watch how these laws are adopted," said Ricardo Juarez, coordinator of Mexicans Without Borders. "This shows us that any abuse of power can be defeated by the community."
[...]
The ordinance, which was adopted Dec. 5, changed a definition of family in the city's zoning code, so that with a few exceptions, households were restricted to immediate relatives, even if the total number was below the legal occupancy limit.

For instance, a five-bedroom house shared by five cousins was deemed illegal in Manassas, a suburban city of 40,000 that is about 72 percent white, 15 percent Latino and 13 percent black.
[...]
[I]n December, the city narrowed its definition of family in order to break up more households by forcing out extended relatives such as nephews and cousins -- whom one city official described as "peripheral." Using the new definition, the city calculated that it could relocate about 100 more people.

A city inspector who has been enforcing the program said the image of dozens of people living in squalor did not fit what his inspections turned up in Manassas. Although complaints occasionally led him to houses crammed with too many people, most of the time inspections turned up neat and orderly homes of perhaps eight extended relatives living together to help with the high cost of housing.
[...]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/11/AR2006011102532.html”

“That’s just so wrong on so many levels. And what a waste of time and resources. They should take that time and direct it at catching and sending back the illegal immigrants. That alone may help their problem of parking.”

“Having lived in the area I can sympathize with what they were trying to do, It is a massive, massive problem in that area. It's not unusual when I visit my parents to have to park almost half a mile away from the house, if there's any parking anywhere near the neighborhood at all. It's not unusual to have more than ten people living in a four bedroom townhouse.”

“You know, if they would just assimilate...”

“I toyed with the idea of taking a job in DC a few years ago.
Housing prices are crazy there.
No wonder families live together.”