In the past couple of years, Kanye West has been on a downward spiral in which he makes anti-Black comments and actions. His affiliation with Donald Trump during his term in office, his recent comments about George Floyd’s death and his promotion of the slogan “White Lives Matter” are all instances that have angered the Black community. During an interview, West made a comment that Floyd’s death was due to a fentanyl overdose rather than the physical force of former police officer Derek Chauvin. After this statement, Floyd’s family issued a $250 million lawsuit against West for spreading a false conspiracy theory. West also made a shirt in his new fashion collection that has the phrase “White Lives Matter.” These are situations that have affected and angered the Black community to an immeasurable degree.
Recently, West also made anti-Semitic comments that were blatantly racist. West tweeted: “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up, I’m going death con 3 on Jewish people.” Defcon is a military term short for “Defense readiness condition.” Defcon 3 is used for situations that need immediate attention and pose a threat to the safety of Americans. This comment offended the Jewish community and caused West to be called anti-Semitic. Twitter removed the post as it went against Twitter guidelines, and West’s account was temporarily locked. When West was later interviewed about his comments, he admitted that they were racist and expressed that he “fights fire with fire.”
This event seemed to be the last straw for a lot of West’s partnerships – Adidas, Balenciaga, GAP, Vogue, Def Jam Records, Foot Locker and more. The companies listed have already caused West to lose his billionaire status. Adidas officially ended their partnership with West on October 25 because they have zero tolerance for anti-Semitism or any other form of racism. They categorized his comments as hateful and dangerous. But the true question that we need to ask ourselves is why it took an attack on Jewish people to drop West from these companies. Is it because they are white? Is it because Black suffering is always overlooked?