On Monday, Kanye West, who goes by Ye, took a defiant tone, telling the audience at his Paris fashion show, “You can’t manage me,” while wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt.
A torrent of liberal criticism ensured. The New York Times headline for its fashion review of the show vented outrage: “There Is No Excuse for Ye’s ‘White Lives Matter’ Shirt.”
In response to the criticism, West fired off a series of Instagram posts.
“Here’s my latest response when people ask me why I made a tee that says white lives matter… THEY DO,” he posted.
View this post on Instagram
In another post, he wrote, “GOD IS GOOD I’M USED TO ATTACKS FROM HOLLYWOOD ACTORS SO TO GET SUPPORT FOR STANDING MY GROUND IS AMAZING WE BROKE THE MIND CONTROL NOBODY IS TRAUMA DRUNK NO MORE GOD IS FIGHTING THIS BATTLE FOR US,” referring to a Daily Mail article that was much less critical than others.
When you see the scale of the hatred evoked by Kanye West wearing a White Lives Matter shirt, you understand that white lives mean nothing to a lot of people. If we want to survive, we have to start taking our own side. pic.twitter.com/gjiSiCI4GC
— Way of the World (@wayotworld) October 4, 2022
“BLACK ACADEMICS ARE ON MY SIDE,” he also posted, referencing the Daily Mail article again, which quoted Professor Tatishe M. Nteta.
“Kanye West in some ways is voicing a sentiment that some aspects and portions of the American public believes and supports,” Nteta said, according to the Daily Mail.
Kanye West posted this on his Instagram story: “Everyone knows that Black Lives Matter was a scam. Now it’s over. You’re welcome.” pic.twitter.com/tmSx3H06zL
— An0maly (@LegendaryEnergy) October 4, 2022
The Daily Mail also quoted a Black Lives Matter spokesman as saying, “The stunt was a clear affront to Black Lives Matter, which has been measured as the largest racial justice movement in history.”
“Black models walked the runway wearing the same slogan. ‘All Lives Matter’ and ‘White Lives Matter’ have long served as violent retorts to the Black Lives Matter movement, used by white supremacists and hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan,” he said.
West had an Instagram reply for that as well, posting: “BREONNA TAYLOR’S MOM SAID IT FIRST ‘I have never personally dealt with BLM Louisville and personally have found them to be fraud.’”
A report by Page Six said that behind the rhetorical fencing, sources it did not name claim West is frustrated by the reaction to his fashion stament.
“He thinks it’s a PC thing. He wants to give a voice to the ‘other side’ [of the race debate in America]. He doesn’t understand why people aren’t seeing that,” Page Six quoted its source as saying.
Model Selah Marley, the granddaughter of reggae star Bob Marley, backed West on her Instagram stories account, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“The past 24 hours has allowed me to realize that most of y’all are stuck in a hive mind mentality. You do what the group tells you to do & think what the group tells you to think. Witnessing someone break free from ‘the agenda’ sends you all into such a panic that you will do whatever it takes to force them back into the box that you feel they should exist in,” she wrote.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
