EXTREMISMYe (Kanye West): What You Need to Know
Since early October 2022, Ye – the highly influential artist, record producer, and fashion designer formerly known as Kanye West – has drawn media attention for inflammatory antisemitic and conspiratorial remarks. Here’s what you need to know about Ye’s statements, his history of espousing controversial views and why they are concerning.
Since early October 2022, Ye – the highly influential artist, record producer, and fashion designer formerly known as Kanye West – has drawn media attention for inflammatory antisemitic and conspiratorial remarks. Ye made offensive claims about Jewish people and Jewish identity during an October 6 interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson. Over the next two days, Ye shared social media posts which insinuated that Jews are using their purported control to intimidate him and threatened to go “death con [sic] 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.” Ye repeatedly doubled down on his antisemitic beliefs during subsequent interviews, including on Revolt TV’s “Drink Champs” on October 16, NewsNation’s “Cuomo” on October 17, TalkTV’s “Piers Morgan Uncensored” on October 19, and the “Lex Fridman Podcast” on October 24.
Here’s what you need to know about Ye’s statements, his history of espousing controversial views and why they are concerning:
·Ye’s recent statements draw on longstanding antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories about Jewish people. For example, he promoted tropes about Jewish power and control – including in the entertainment industry, media, politics and business – as well as tropes about Jewish greed and the notion that Jewish people exploit and intimidate others for financial gain. Ye’s generalizations about Jews is deeply offensive and perpetuates these harmful stereotypes.
·Ye’s comments also reflect beliefs espoused by fringe antisemitic religious groups, including extremist sects of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement and the Nation of Islam. Ye has claimed that Black people are “Jews” and “Semites” and therefore cannot be antisemitic. This is not a reference to the religion of Judaism or traditional understandings of Jewish ethnicity, but rather a belief found in Black Hebrew Israelite ideology which asserts that certain people of color are the true descendants of the biblical Israelites. Extremists use this concept to promote antisemitism, claiming that Jewish people today are imposters who stole the religious heritage of Black people and are engaged in a global conspiracy to oppress non-Jewish people.
