[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Kanye West’s antisemitic behavior is inciting real violence.
It’s been devastating to hear all the hateful and harmful things the rapper has had to say about the Jewish community in the last several weeks, and unfortunately, we are already seeing the grave ramifications of him using his platform for cruelty. Sadly, this is likely just the tip of the iceberg.
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As we’ve been following, after making several hate speeches across various platforms, the Holocaust Museum of Los Angeles publicly reached out to Ye to invite him for a private tour so he could learn from his wrongs. The Heartless rapper quickly denied the offer on the Drink Champs podcast while complaining about someone not wanting to release his “White Lives Matter” t-shirts. He said:
“He’s telling me like, ‘Yo, I want you to visit the Holocaust Museum.’ I was like, ‘Yo, I want you to visit Planned Parenthood. That’s our Holocaust Museum.’”
Kanye West: “Planned Parenthood is the Black Holocaust Museum.” pic.twitter.com/JnV4v9amxs
— Lavern Spicer ???????? (@lavern_spicer) October 16, 2022
On multiple occasions now, Kanye has falsely claimed “there are more black babies being aborted than born.” Ugh. So awful. And might we reiterate, completely untrue!
Now, the museum is reacting to his refusal to learn the history of the Holocaust — and showing the negative impact the rapper’s words have had on their community! In a statement released on Twitter earlier this month, the museum revealed they’ve been fielding threats ever since Kanye’s controversial chatter, saying:
“Ye, since we invited you to visit us at Holocaust Museum LA we have received a tremendous amount of social media messages and comments…some filled with hate, threats, and vitriol. Others were saddled with hurt and yearned for further discourse.”
Ye, since we invited you to visit us at Holocaust Museum LA we have received a tremendous amount of social media messages and comments…some filled with hate, threats, and vitriol. Others were saddled with hurt and yearned for further discourse. @kanyewest pic.twitter.com/bWAiebfnXB
— Holocaust Museum LA (@hmla1961) October 13, 2022
They went on to slam him for using his immense power to tear down others, adding:
“Ye, you have over 30m Twitter followers (twice as many Twitter followers as the total number of Jews on earth). You and anyone reading this can make a difference, you can choose to join us in building bridges rather than tearing them down.”
There are approximately 15 million Jewish people in the world, with around half of those in the US. Speaking to CBS on Tuesday, Beth Kean, the CEO of the museum, expressed similar frustrations about Kim Kardashian’s ex and the hate they’ve been battling ever since he began running his mouth. She opened up:
“We know for a fact that education is the greatest catalyst for change. When students and visitors come to the museum if they enter as bystanders they leave as upstanders. We know that.”
And yet, Kanye’s unwilling to educate himself. Beth continued:
“We publicly invited him to come to the museum and he publicly rejected our offer.”
On why this is so upsetting, she went on:
“I think Kanye has more than double the amount of Twitter followers than there are Jews living in this world. People like Kanye have a huge platform, he has over 30 million Twitter followers and he needs to understand that he needs to use his words to inspire and not incite and to not perpetuate hate and lies and antisemitism.”
She can say that again!!!
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Not only has the museum received violent messages, but antisemitic behavior was put on full display over the weekend when a group (displaying Nazi salutes) hung a banner over the 405 freeway in LA. It read:
“Kanye was right about the Jews.”
Just despicable. Heartbroken by the unrest, Beth told the outlet:
“It’s infuriating that this is happening in our own backyard.”
It’s also just downright infuriating to see history repeating itself! To keep people safe, Magen Am, a non-profit security team for the Jewish community, has set up more patrols in the Fairfax District. The group includes more than 50 volunteers and veterans who provide safety training and armed response to dangerous situations when needed. President and CEO Rabbi Yossi Eilfort told CBS:
“Doing everything we can to show that we’re not afraid. We’re a strong community and we won’t act like victims.”
We hope these armed forces aren’t needed. It’s gut-wrenching to see things have even gotten this far. Kanye — and anyone with antisemitic beliefs, for that matter — needs to educate themselves ASAP. And at the very least, they need to stop pouring hate on an already vulnerable community.
As more brands and people cut ties with the Grammy winner amid these controversies, Ye will continue to be held accountable for his actions against an already-threatened community. And let’s be real, one of these days — when he’s strapped for cash — we wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to sweep this under the rug, but the damage, the severe damage, has already been done. It’s not the first time he’s made inflammatory claims like these, but the ramifications will last for years. And to learn he turned down an invaluable opportunity to learn from his mistakes? Truly disappointing. When will he fully understand the pain he’s caused with his recklessness?
[Image via MEGA/WENN & Holocaust Museum of Los Angeles]
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