via Wikimedia
Back in 2018, hip hop star Kanye West - the man who once called out a sitting U.S. President for anti-Black political negligence on live TV - got too chummy with racist President Trump and proudly donned a “Make America Great Again” hat.
Before we could recover from the shock, more disrespect followed.
To add insult to injury, Kanye called slavery a “choice,” rather than the brutal forced oppression it was to our ancestors, and that was the last straw.
Most would-be supporters denounced the musician and his twisted outbursts.
But then came Coachella…
Social media clips from the famous music festival show an enthusiastic Kanye performing Gospel tracks with his band.
Yet even with this display of religious passion, his sincerity isn’t clear. After all, many wolves in sheep's clothing have inflicted harm on our communities before.
What are we to make of this rare alignment with Christian values?
Celebrities engineer press coverage, endorsements, television appearances, and sound bites all the time in hopes of endearing themselves to the still freshly-insulted public.
Kanye is no exception.
Only time will tell if his actions are sincere or not. But one thing is certain:
The Black community’s only responsibility is to make sure that our public figures face consequences for aligning with groups that harm us. We may forgive Kanye but we cannot so easily forget.