Kanye West won't be their slave

Excuse the bad English, but why folks hatin' on Kanye West? Y'all know the answer. Folks drinking the Haterade because Kayne done stepped off their plantation -- or they just now realized he was never on their plantation to begin with. Please note: I'm no Kanye fan, so these thoughts don't come from a fan sticking up for the object of her affection. I'm no fan, and there's no affection, but I do call it like I see it.

Last week, when the rapper came out donning a cap with Trump's signature "Make America Great Again" slogan, which ended up with President Trump's actual signature, folks lost their minds. He rankled the music industry, Hollywood, left-wing media, fans and other better-than-you-ers, who blew a collective gasket because he demonstrated he had a mind of his own and was not among the plantation dwellers who think only what they have been told to think.

I hear the denials already -- denials that people want to put certain other people in their box, want them to think and believe a certain way, to line up and say, "Yes, suh" and "No, suh." But it's too late. They already showed their hand. In fact, they showed it long before Kanye. He's just the latest. Certain people are not allowed to think on their own. They are expected to think -- and support -- as they are told. Kanye is one of those people. He fits the description -- and we all know what that description is. He is not "allowed" to support Trump. He is expected to be a Democrat, and he is expected to be happy about it. He is expected, bottom line, to reside on the plantation.

Apparently, Kanye didn't get the memo. No, check that. He got the memo; he just didn't submit to it, and slave masters demand submission, so they bully, but they can only bully slaves. Kanye is not their slave.

Kanye, like Trump, is using Twitter to express himself, and despite all the hate thrown his way because he loves Trump, as he said, he is not budging.

"I respect everyone's opinion but I stand my ground," he tweeted.

What about the repercussions of standing that ground? He's not worried. He tweeted, "Free thinkers don't fear retaliation for your thoughts. The traditional thinkers are only using thoughts and words but they are in a mental prison. You are free. You've already won. Feel energized. Move in love not fear. Be afraid of nothing."

"Free"? That's a word plantation owners don't like. The free man is in charge of himself. Plantation owners can't abide that; by definition, they are in charge.

"Black folks don't have to be democrats," Chance the Rapper wrote and Kanye shared on Twitter. It's a shame that even has to be said, but it's a newsflash to many, and we all know the deal: folks are angry with Kanye because he, a black man, he who rolls with Hollywood, is supposed to be a Democrat and to support Democrats.

But Kanye owes no one his support. And apparently, former President Barack Obama doesn't have it, either: "Obama was in office for eight years and nothing in Chicago changed," he tweeted. Ut-oh! Careful there, Kanye. You've really crossed the line now. The noose they intended for your neck was not supposed to permit enough oxygen to your brain to let you think -- much less speak or tweet -- against Obama. Not allowed.

But Kanye already told us, "I love when people have their own ideas. You don't have to be allowed anymore. Just be."

I've read comments asking him to rethink his support of Trump because, they claimed, Trump's policies do an injustice to the black community. I'm not sure how tax breaks, deregulation and securing U.S. borders so Americans are safe and -- something that will positively affect the black community -- preserve jobs for Americans is a bad thing, but, you know, it's Trump, so...

When someone likes a particular sports team, no one has a conniption. When someone decides to be a lawyer rather than a doctor, no one feels betrayed. When someone chooses to move from New York to Iowa, no one wages a Twitter battle. But this is a deeper choice. This is a black rapper who is not supposed to be able to think on his own, who must walk lockstep with those the slave owners herded onto their plantation and whose individualism is an affront to their collectivism. The saddest thing is that their preconceived ideas are more rooted in racism than Trump's allegedly racist policies. When you are angry and shocked that people of a certain background think differently from the way you expect most people of that background to think, you reveal your belief -- your prejudice -- that certain people are incapable or worthy of thinking on their own but must be slaves to the thoughts of those in their group, those on the plantation you built for them. You're saying to them, "Stay in your place."

As I said at the outset, I'm no Kanye fan, but I don't have to be his fan to respect his right to be free or to applaud his refusal to be anyone's slave. In this regard, we would all be wise to follow in his footsteps.

NOTE: After this column was written and filed, Kanye released a song questioning blacks' support of Democrats. Interestingly, he included the following lyrics: "See, that's the problem with this damn nation. All blacks gotta be Democrats, man. We ain't made it off the plantation." Who would have thought I would find myself agreeing with Kanye West?

Adrienne Ross is owner of Adrienne Ross Communications and a former Southeast Missourian editorial board member. Contact her at aross@semissourian.com.