Another day, another black celebrity thrown to the side by their peers.
In an interview with ABC Nightline that aired last Tuesday, rapper Lil Wayne said he does not “feel connected” with Black Lives Matter movement. Here’s how Wayne responded when pressed for comment from reporter Linsey Davis:
“That just sounds weird, I don’t know, that you put a name on it. It’s not a name, it’s not ‘whatever, whatever,’ it’s somebody got shot by a policeman for a f****d up reason.
I am a young black rich mother*****r. If that don’t let you know that America understand black mother*****r matter these days, I don’t know what it is. (points to camera) That man white; he filmin’ me. I’m a n****. I don’t know what you mean, man, don’t come at me with that dumb ass ****, ma’am. My life matters.”
When Davis continued to press further. saying “Do you feel though, connected to … ," Wayne continued:
“I don’t feel connected to a damn thing that ain’t got nothin’ to do with me. If you do, you crazy as s***. Not the camera, you. Feeling connected to something that ain’t got nothin’ to do with you? If it ain’t got nothin’ to do with me, I ain’t connected to it.”
OH BOY.
To say the race-baiters were triggered, after this seemingly genuine, non-malicious response to a consistently badgering question posed to every black celebrity, would be an understatement. Not to mention, Wayne has been asked about the subject of racism before, most notably last month in an episode of Fox Sports’ “Undisputed” with Skip Bayless and former NFL star Shannon Sharpe, where he said he had “never” experienced racism.
Here’s a few popular responses to his Nightline interview from around the Twittersphere :
https://twitter.com/Westsidee2x/status/794068838690062336
https://twitter.com/tufffkitty/status/793789349477355521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/WhyNya/status/793838053299146752
Interesting how once Wayne speaks seemingly ‘out of turn’, he is turned on by even his most loyal of fans and followers.
This is all very nasty and very racist stuff, but it’s the type of dynamic that prevails in our current society. While Hollywood, the media, and the university continue their attempt to divide-and-conquer, the occasional free thinker who doesn't subscribe to group-think is subject to the disownment from society such as the type that Lil Wayne received - even from his own peers. Fellow rapper T.I unleashed a scathing take of Wayne’s comments on Instagram, calling his statement “buffoonery and coonin” and “Uncle Tom shit."
Question is: Where is the defense for Wayne? While Wayne, a 34 year-old adult with 4 children, needs not the approval of the growing populous of angry and misled Americans who are of the idea that the country is still buying slaves from Africa and torturing them in cotton fields, the attacks that Wayne is taking can actually be compared with the attacks 'privileged' blacks experienced during slave times in early America. Calling Wayne an ‘Uncle Tom’ is to call him a “faithful black slave," and to call him a ‘coon’ is to call him a “sellout."
Why is it okay to call him, or anyone, these things, explicitly on the basis of their race?
It’s not.
The idea that racism goes only one way is not only insane and ignorant, but it’s incorrect. With Merriam-Webster listing the definition of racism as “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits," the definition is not race-specific. This new interpretation that racism only applies when there is some sort of beholder of power using their position or status in society to hold someone else down is simply not true and extremely dangerous. Racism is universal, and the moment we decide that blacks must all think the same way, and whites must also and so must hispanics and Indians and Asians, what are we really saying? We’re saying that it is no longer time to think for ourselves or as individuals based on values or principles, but that it must be true that there are interests that are applicable to certain groups that are not applicable to others, and on the basis of color, that is not true, and is the epitome of racism.
Lil Wayne doesn't need to approve of the Black Lives Matter movement, and at this point, nobody else should either. The Black Lives Matter movement has turned into one of the most hateful and misguidedmovements in modern times, and even one of its original founders claimed that the movement had been “hijacked” by people up to no good. If it’s not about the movement, but the meaning behind it, that is something I'm sure Wayne is for, as are the majority of Americans. Black lives do matter, and that’s because all lives matter, and if you can't agree with that, the real racist might be staring you down in the mirror.
