By Ben
Shapiro |Townhall
It's easy to dismiss Kanye West.
It's easy to dismiss him because he's nutty. This is a
fellow who tweets about antique fish tanks and fur pillows. This is the guy who
calls himself Yeezus (after Jesus) and suggested that then-President George W.
Bush didn't care about black people in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He
isn't exactly known for his bouts of emotional stability.
And in our celebrity-driven culture, we shouldn't pay too
much attention to those who haven't spent a lot of time studying policy. That's
how we end up with celebrity politicians, emotion-driven policy and reality
television substituting for news.
With that said, Kanye West did something deeply important
over the last two weeks: He opened up the debate.
Stung by the gratuitous censorship of the left, West
began tweeting that Americans ought to think for themselves. He even tweeted a
picture of himself wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat. And
suddenly, the left went nuts, too. Kumail Nanjiani, co-writer of "The Big
Sick," tweeted, "This was the worst twitter day in twitter
history." Op-eds ran at The Root and The Washington Post claiming that
West had been suckered.
But surprisingly, West didn't back down. He soon released
a track with fellow rapper T.I. debating the merits of coming out as pro-Trump,
with T.I. tearing into him as out of touch and West defending himself as
thinking outside "the plantation." West met with conservative
activist Candace Owens and tweeted quotes from Thomas Sowell.
Now, none of this means that West should suddenly be
considered for leadership of The Heritage Foundation. But it does mark a break
in the solid leftist wall of Hollywood and the music industry, and in the
intersectional coalition.
The entertainment industry can't tolerate conservatives
-- when I wrote a book on political bias in Hollywood, several Hollywood
insiders told me openly that they refuse to hire those on the right.
Shania
Twain learned just a few weeks ago that signaling support for President Trump
in any way means taking your career into your hands.
The same holds true in identity politics circles. Those on
the left who suggest that politics must innately follow immutable biological
characteristics (i.e. black people have to be Democrats) felt deeply threatened
by West's comments.
After Chance the Rapper tweeted out that black Americans
don't have to vote Democrat, the left's pressure snapped into place so rigidly
that he backed off and apologized.
But West hasn't.
What's happening? It's doubtful that West started reading
Edmund Burke. It may just be that West, like a lot of Americans tired of being
told what to think by their industry and racialists on all sides, is getting
tired of being told what to do. It's possible that West, like most Americans,
sees America as a place with problems but a place where individuals can think
and achieve freely. And he's clearly willing to take part in a political debate
so many of his friends aren't.
That makes West an important voice, at least for now. It
does take courage to buck your entire cadre in order to publicly declare what
you think. West deserves credit for that. And who knows? Perhaps some other
prominent Americans might come forward to re-engage in a debate from which they
have been barred.
