If you've lived in complete solitude the past two weeks or, unfortunately, don't have an account with the innate great that is Twitter, then you might not be familiar with infamous rapper, Kanye West's recent Twitter rants. From being completely mundane on the popular social media sight since the initial creation of his account to putting out tweets for what seems to be close to every 10 minutes these past few days, it's easy to say that Kanye is definitely getting his voice heard and taking the nature of politics and social media by storm.
There has been intense backlash in what Kanye has been saying politically. There's the initial shock that comes when a celebrity, and a celebrity who is ethnically black, tweets about showing support for President Trump and preaching about what some might deem as "conservative views." We're so used to celebrities taking jabs at the President that when Kanye West comes into the mix, and completely turns the tables on all of that, users who may be Kanye fans but not Trump supporters are in a tizzy.
How could someone who is so famous and technically a minority in this country (even though I'm sure Kanye's bank account would prove to be pretty superior to most across all ethnic backgrounds) say such supportive statements about the current state in which our country is being run?
This is where I challenge those who are asking that question to go back and analyze Kanye's tweets over again. Nowhere did he explicitly state, "I am a Republican." Nowhere did he explicitly stated that he voted for Trump, that he likes Trump, that he agrees with everything about Trump, and that the Democrats in this election were individuals that he could not get behind.
In fact, he has shown common ground between both parties, saying that he will support Trump but he would have also supported Hillary. This is where we need to break away from look at these tweets so politically.
Unlike most celebrity tweets towards politics where the one side taken by the individual is clearly recognizable, Kanye bashes the idea of taking sides and refuting another person's differing opinions. This idea that people become so enraged nowadays when one person does not agree with another's views is not beneficial to the function of society in any way... and Kanye believes this. He wants everyone's opinions to matter and to not be judged. He shows this when he takes the time to screenshot text messaging conversations that he has with other individuals who may not see eye-to-eye with him. Kanye ends these conversations every time with love and positivity as a way to show that no matter the person's point of view, healthy relationships and a coming together can still be possible.
Kanye is a clear proponent of the freedom of expression and thought. He sees those who hinder and try to quiet that as the true destroyers of our nation, not Trump, not Hillary, not Republicans, not Democrats.
It's sad that some people can't wrap their heads around this kind of agenda because when you include the freedom of thought to reign over everyone, including those you may so wholeheartedly disagree with, you begin to believe that by doing this you are giving these opposing opinions your support, but that's the problem.
Now obviously there can be different degrees of opinions, some more outlandish than others, but I think we are smart enough as individuals to know when to negate and ignore those when they are said. It's the healthy debate and educated topics where swords shouldn't be drawn, but patience and open-mindedness should be present.
It's amazing how Kanye West, of all people, was the one to come out with this way of thinking. I know I for sure was surprised and thought he'd just take the action that some many other celebrities have during this Trump administration.
Listen to Kanye, and realize that opposing views are not something to ruin a relationship over or to judge others for. You don't have to always agree with the views at hand, but you don't have to create immense division and negativity because of it.
