The President and Kanye West

Obama is right. West is a jackass. The statement should be allowed to stand. Why does the President have to be sensitive about this issue? West was out of line. He needs to be sanctioned and what better person to draw the line than the President of the United States?

Barack Obama stands for black America. He is the symbol that black Americans have been waiting on for many years. He embodies the notion that black is not only ‘as good as’ but that this equality is unquestionable. If George Bush had quipped that a white actor/singer in the same situation was a ‘jackass’ we would have all giggled and forgiven. George could get away with anything – and he did, constantly. Monumental gaffes were his trademark and well publicised all over the world.

This was not a gaffe! Yes, it was said in private and everyone knows you don’t repeat anything a President says in private (well don’t they?). Twitter is a great way to get this type of commentary right out there and those that posted knew exactly what they were doing. This was the opportunity for the ‘good’ black guy to sanction the ‘bad’ one. This was a perfect opportunity for black Americans to emphasise that they are not some homogenous group of hip hopping bad mouths; that black Americans do and should know right from wrong; and that breaches of protocols by blacks will not be tolerated – simply because they are black.

Whether they actually thought this through at the time is questionable but going with their gut instinct to post this comment to the web was a natural response to sanction the offence and it has illicited just the response that is needed – a discussion such as this one.