By Chloe Barth
Kanye West has become increasingly vocal about his radical right-wing views. In 2016, the rapper interrupted his own Saint Pablo tour to speak for nearly 25 minutes about his love for former President Donald Trump. In return, West was invited to Trump Towers for a meeting with him, and the two began an unexpected friendship and political relationship. Donald Trump is infamous for his far-right politics. During his presidency, that meant making repeated racist and misogynistic remarks, overlooking human rights issues in ICE detention centers, and working alongside Vice President Mike Pence, who advocated for gay conversion camps. West not only tolerated this bigotry, but encouraged it. In 2018, he implied that slavery was a “choice.” While preaching these values, the “Famous” singer never directly advocated for violence until October 2022, when he targeted Jewish people via Twitter. The tweet reads, “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda[.]” Both his Twitter and Instagram accounts have been suspended as a result of these threats.
Kanye West, who is also known as Ye, has since doubled down on his anti-Semitism. During an October 17 interview with Chris Cuomo, he claimed that the “Jewish underground media mafia” was out to get him. Ye plays upon Jewish stereotypes common in American media. Jews are generalized to be lawyers, bankers and other behind-the-scenes members of lucrative industries. Villains in fiction are often Jewish-coded, meaning that their characteristics are based on Jewish stereotypes such as these. The goblins in the Harry Potter series are written as short, greedy bankers. The film adaptation depicts them with hooked noses, and even features the Star of David in their bank. Many Disney villains also bear hooked noses, a stereotypical Jewish feature.
Agencies practice virtue signaling in response to rising anti-Semitism. Adidas dropped Ye, whose Yeezy sneakers earned the company an estimated $2 billion per year. NBA star Kyrie Irving was suspended from the Brooklyn Nets after tweeting a link to an anti-Semitic documentary, which perpetuates harmful stereotypes such as the belief that Jewish people practice devil-worshipping. The Nets suspended Irving from at least five games with no pay, citing his inability to “unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs.” Decisions such as these protect companies’ reputations from being tainted by anti-Semitism. Yet few policies have been implemented to protect Jewish people in the long-term. With Elon Musk’s new purchase of Twitter, it seems likely that even more anti-Semitic tweets will take place on this platform. Musk fired four of Twitter’s top executives as of October 27. Vijaya Gadde is the most notable executive to be fired. She has been criticized as Twitter’s “censor chief” for her decision to ban Donald Trump’s account. Musk himself recently tweeted misinformation regarding the attack on White House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband. Given these changes, it seems likely that Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter will allow more misinformation and far-right views to spread.
As agencies publicly condemn anti-Semitism to retain customers, the alt-right is gaining a platform. After Ye threatened violence against Jews, a group of men stood above the Los Angeles 405 Freeway raising the Nazi salute. They hung banners reading, “HONK IF YOU KNOW,” and “KANYE WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE JEWS.” Hate crimes against Jewish people continue to rise. The most recent data available from the FBI shows that as of 2019, a staggering 60.2 percent of all reported religious-based hate crimes were committed against Jews. Ye’s anti-Semitic rhetoric is not the origin of this issue. Rather, his status as a public figure has encouraged others to voice their dangerous opinions as well.
Ye recently announced his intent to purchase the social media app Parler. The self-proclaimed “Free Speech App” is known to house right-wing and alt-right users who cannot voice their opinions on mainstream social media apps. It is one of the sites on which the January 6 Capitol Riots were planned. After Ye’s announcement, Trump Media named Parler as a possible merger partner. Ye’s anti-Semitic comments are just the tip of the alt-right iceberg. His comments have made others feel comfortable voicing their anti-Semitism as well, and he, Elon Musk and Donald Trump all seem to be making moves to create space on social media for this rhetoric. Given their recent actions and high degree of influence, it seems almost certain that at least one of their social media empires will allow the alt-right into the mainstream. Anti-Semitism does not begin and end with Kanye West. While he should be held accountable for his statements, to criticize him alone reeks of virtue signaling. The bigger issue is the rise of the alt-right and the platform which they are now being afforded. Change must be effected immediately to protect not only Jewish people, but all who may be targeted.