Does Sway Have the Answer? What is Kanye's rationale for wearing a 'White Lives Matter' shirt?
By Kathryn Otis // Controversy // EEW Magazine Online
Photo Credit: Candace Owens/Twitter
The Internet is trying to figure out Kanye West’s rationale behind donning a long-sleeved shirt with this slogan emblazoned across it: “White Lives Matter.”
Does Sway have the answer?
In 2016, a white nationalist group called White Lives Matter—a self-proclaimed opponent of the Black Lives Matter movement—was declared a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that tracks extremist groups in the United States.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Mr. West, a provocateur and Black man, has stirred controversy by rocking the slogan. While some are defending the “Jesus Is King” producer, others are attacking him, and still others are dismissing him, surmising that Kanye is just being Kanye.
Insert the famous Kanye shrug.
Credit: Getty
Whatever side of the aisle you find yourself on, it’s undeniable that the 45-year-old fashion designer and Grammy-winning artist, who is showcasing his ninth collection for Yeezy in Paris—formally named YZY—knows how to stir the pot.
To really get things stirred up, West was joined by conservative activist and political commentator, Candace Owens, 33, who also wore a “White Lives Matter” shirt.
During an interview with Vogue, West was asked to share the concept of his latest YZY collection.
“There’s just people. From the same planet,” he explained. “And sometimes, in high school, it feels like we don’t fit in. And in a situation like this, we have the opportunity to come together to express who we are.”
He also stated, “Our point, our idea, is that there is no one who is not welcome at YZY, at Donda.”
During West’s live-streamed showcase, he did not directly address the “White Lives Matter” theme.
He did say, however, “I am Ye, and everyone here knows that I am the leader. You can’t manage me.”
Maybe that’s the point.
He has for a long time expressed disdain for limiting beliefs and mindsets he feels are imposed upon him by others.
For instance, when the billionaire first sported a red “Make America Great Again” cap in support of former president, Donald Trump, West told GQ, "I didn't intend for anything except to speak my mind and express how I felt. I have no intention other than to be free, and I don't intend to be free — I just simply am.”
Currently, many outraged social media users are outright accusing him of rejecting his identity as a Black man and minimizing Black folks’ struggle for Civil rights. But previously, West noted, “Both my parents were freedom fighters, and they used to drink from fountains they were told they couldn’t drink from, and they used to sit in restaurants where they were told they couldn’t eat from. They didn’t fight for me to be told by white people which white person I can vote on.”
Apparently, he doesn’t want to be told which slogans he can wear on his shirts either.
Surely there will be endless commentary and multiple think pieces about West’s latest move, but the truth is that the only one who can truly know what’s going on inside his mind is him.
Unfortunately, Sway, in this case, does not have the answers we seek.
