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| Photo taken by Ta-ning Connai in her Santa Monica neighborhood |
By Ta-ning Connai
As soon as we think we've recovered from Kanye’s last outrageous stunt...SURPRISE!....he hits us with another dose of untapped foolishness! He recently poured out some pretty glowing feelings about the POTUS and I suppose he had to ignore Trump’s racist, misogynistic and morally decayed views in order to esteem him that way. The suck up continued with words like “brother,” “love,” and “dragon energy” (huh???) followed by a pic of Kanye sporting a Make America Great Again cap (again). But this isn't a person simply exerting the right to his opinion or political views, as his wife Kim tried to defend. Sadly, his comments point to his slow, but deliberate path towards “white is right, black is whack” (a phrase going back to the 70’s), and that alone is more disheartening than who he would cast his vote for.
Early in his career, Kanye was fully aware of the race-related issues plaguing America and he embraced the opportunity to be a voice of the disenfranchised in spite of his own personal rise- anyone remember when he protested “George Bush doesn't care about black people?" But the guy we once thought of like a cool cousin started becoming more like that weird, distant uncle you only see at the family reunions. What happened? What changed? Where’s the Ye we used to know?
He denies the current existence of racism and claims, “Blacks need to get over (it).”...he vicariously escapes into a non-black existence through his white spouse and half-white kids...he shamelessly admitted to dumping a light girl for a white girl because,”I wanted my children to be as beautiful as possible" and “interracial children are more attractive than black children.”...and lastly, he reveals a peculiar admiration for a white man who is an eerie reminder of the oppressors of old...Kanye went from self-love to self-hate right before our very eyes.
To be black and to love white people is NOT a problem (heck, I'm a product of that sorta thing)! There is a way to maintain black pride and an allegiance to one's own culture while also showing love to white people that deserve it. We’d be ignorant to forget that some of the greatest abolitionists and leaders in human rights were white and many of them willingly died fighting against cruelties their heritage granted them protection from. But Kanye has some type of aversion to all things black and it’s sad that he thinks that scoring a white girl and living in a white world is a pass to escaping his own black reality. I'm sure it's allotted him privileges he would otherwise go without and has shielded him from some of the pain that perhaps the average black citizen deals with from day-to- day. But his whitewashed reality is just a fantasy to most, and he must remove his head out the sand if he wants to stay woke.
Self-hatred isn't always about literally hating the skin you're in. It’s also about a self-imposed call to perfection that always ends in an epic fail. It's when ones worthiness is attached to his deeds, good works or success. It's when you demand admiration from those you count on for your value, only to be disappointed, resentful and often surprised by their inability to fill your voids. These expectations create fear and it's the fear that drives such unrealistic demands. Somebody say VICIOUS CYCLE, a real nightmare that never ends!
So, in this sense, Kanye was right. He and the Prez have a lot in common; two guys battling their own self-hatred for two entirely different reasons. Power will never be enough for Trump and Kanye's extended white family will never fill his cup. They're both traveling toward a dead end and the only place their self-love can begin is from the heart of the One that first loved them. If only they would look up, then reach out, they'd be so happy that they did!
When Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment, His answer was this,
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| Kanye, Kim & the kids |
To be black and to love white people is NOT a problem (heck, I'm a product of that sorta thing)! There is a way to maintain black pride and an allegiance to one's own culture while also showing love to white people that deserve it. We’d be ignorant to forget that some of the greatest abolitionists and leaders in human rights were white and many of them willingly died fighting against cruelties their heritage granted them protection from. But Kanye has some type of aversion to all things black and it’s sad that he thinks that scoring a white girl and living in a white world is a pass to escaping his own black reality. I'm sure it's allotted him privileges he would otherwise go without and has shielded him from some of the pain that perhaps the average black citizen deals with from day-to- day. But his whitewashed reality is just a fantasy to most, and he must remove his head out the sand if he wants to stay woke.
Self-hatred isn't always about literally hating the skin you're in. It’s also about a self-imposed call to perfection that always ends in an epic fail. It's when ones worthiness is attached to his deeds, good works or success. It's when you demand admiration from those you count on for your value, only to be disappointed, resentful and often surprised by their inability to fill your voids. These expectations create fear and it's the fear that drives such unrealistic demands. Somebody say VICIOUS CYCLE, a real nightmare that never ends!
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| #45 and Kanye at Trump Tower earlier this year |
When Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment, His answer was this,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself...” (Mark 12: 30-31)When we make loving God a priority, He endows us with a supernatural ability to love ourselves and to see ourselves the way He does. Then and only then are we in a better position to give out pure love and receive it in return. That's the solution to self-hate and the answer to self-love. God’s love + Our love = Teamwork makes the dream work!
What do you think about people of color who support our current President?
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TA-NING is a former model and clothing designer who got the "call" to leave the fab world of fashion behind. While in Bible College, she discovered her knack for mixing her quirky style of writing with her gift to teach. TA-NING'S TELL IT TUESDAY is a weekly column (originally launched on Facebook) that uses doses of pop culture to present Christianity in a lively way. Ta-ning resides in Santa Monica (by way of Brooklyn), is obsessed with dogs, and is an old school Hip-Hop junkie
