White Lives Matter
I chose this picture of Kanye west and Candace Owens for my P2P #8. It touches every single one of the concepts on the list of concepts to choose from. Appropriation, remix, countercultural elements and every other other concept is related to this picture. The Black Lives Matter slogan is extremely prevalent on the news and social media. It presupposes that there is currently a problem in our society that Americans are not aware that black people matter. Many top-level influential black artists such as Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Future, and others are tired of this slogan and being treated as though they are victims. Kanye wearing this shirt is proof that black people are just like anyone else and can do anything anyone else can. Many people will usually have a problem with this. Coincidentally, the white women who say “if you don’t have a uterus you don’t have the right to an opinion on abortion” are the same ones who have #BLM in their social media bio, and will literally tell back people how they experience life, and will literally tell black people they are wrong if they don’t support the BLM movement. I wonder if they have considered how racist that is.
Imagine being told daily that your life matters, or that you don’t have a mental illness, for instance. This would make you self-conscious and you might start to think “Why are they telling me this?” The only reason can be because they think either I, or other people, aren’t aware of that fact. This is the feeling Kanye wanted white people to feel. He wanted to make them realize how patronizing they are when they talk down to black people. It reminds me when my boss would talk down to me as if I were a child, patting me on the back and saying things like “you did your best”, “good effort” or “I’m proud of you.” I don’t think he considered how patronizing this was until I did the same thing and patted him on the back and said good work, I’m proud of you. Who is this person that I need their approval, or to make them proud? Ye da goat no cap!
