Everybody loves the First Amendment, until they don’t. Recently, Kanye West visited the White House and had a meeting with President Trump. As a result of his meeting and some of his comments, many of his fans have given up on West.
Leading up to his meeting with the president, West faced backlash from fans for wearing Trump’s Make America Great Again hat. According to West, he gave the hat new meaning while wearing it.
Regardless of West’s political alignment or friendships there is no reason he should be kept quiet. Those who don’t agree with him can either discuss it in a civilized manner with him or simply ignore him.
The First Amendment gives us freedom of speech, regardless of what others think of your opinion. Taylor Swift, a constant enemy of West, recently came out and publicly supported Democrats in Tennessee.
Swift received little backlash for her decision to finally step into politics and show her true colors, but West is receiving a momentous amount of torment.
In the past, West has been heavily praised for being the outspoken individual that he is. Regarding former President Bush’s involvement in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina West said, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
At that time, none of his fans stepped up and said he was wrong. Some of his peers in the “rap game” like Diddy said they would have done the same thing given the opportunity. Now that he’s wearing a MAGA hat and supporting Trump, everyone’s done with him. His peers have all come out and criticized him. If West spoke out against the President would he be given the same treatment? The answer is no.
People wanting West censored don’t have a valid reason other than politics. But you can’t keep somebody quiet based on whether you agree with them or not. Are we going to support Kaepernick but censure West? You can’t pick and choose people.
The First Amendment doesn’t take into account a person’s fame or power of influence. Trump tweets away everyday without a problem and he isn’t censured so neither should West.
You don’t have to agree with West. You have that right, but, you can’t shut him up. Many of the things he’s said sound crazy, they do. He’s gone onto shows like SNL and had long monologues of whatever came to mind at the time; he even did that at the White House.
West’s fans have the right to boycott him. They can block him or unfollow him on social media and take away all their support from him. At times, the monetary impact of such a boycott could make an artist retract a statement or issue an apology.
That’s a valid path to take for those angry with. You can’t outright censure him though.
In the end, just like West, people have the right to their own opinions. Just like West can’t be censured neither can they.
Any argument on what West has said will boil down to the First Amendment. Can you take away his right of free speech? No. Can you disagree with him? Yes.
West will lose support from many different people but at the same time, gain others’ support.