In 13 short years, Kanye West has gone from ‘George Bush doesn’t care about Black people’ to ‘For four-hundred years [of slavery]? That sound[s] like a choice.’ Kanye obviously has lots of room for knowledge in his empty brain. Let’s see if I can help.
First of all, the year 2019 will mark 400 years since chattel slaves were first brought to this country. But if you add up the years between 1619 and 1865, the year that marked the point of relative ‘freedom’ for Blacks in this country, it adds up to 246 years. That is the first point. There’s more.
Black American slaves did fight back
In that 246 years of actual chattel slavery, there were many, many slave revolts. Contrary to what Kanye believes, a very significant portion of Black slaves did not just lay down and accept slavery. There were slave revolts in the U.S. all throughout that period.
There was ‘The Stono Rebellion’ of 1739, in which a slave named Jemmy led more than 20 other slaves in what was the largest slave revolt ever staged in the 13 original American colonies.
There was the ‘New York Conspiracy’ that occurred in 1741, and involved White people, Brown people, and most notably, about 1,700 free and enslaved Black people. They wreaked havoc all over New York, including burning Fort George to the ground.
There was ‘Gabriel’s Conspiracy’ in 1800, in which a slave named Gabriel led about 25 slaves on a march to Richmond, VA to take the armory in Richmond and hold the Governor of Virginia hostage. It was unsuccessful, but definitely sent a message.
There was ‘The German Coast Uprising’ of 1811, in which a mulatto overseer named Charles DesLondes led a force of at least 125 slaves (Some say there were as many as 300 slaves) on a mission to capture the city of New Orleans. Some historians call this the largest and most sophisticated slave revolt in U.S. history. It overshadowed ‘The Stono Rebellion’ in scope, which had been the largest slave revolt up until that time.
Also, there were the ‘Denmark Vesey Revolt’ (Or the Denmark Vesey Conspiracy) of 1822, and ‘Nat Turner’s Rebellion’ of 1831. The ‘Denmark Vesey Revolt’ was a plot to seize the city of Charleston, SC and kill all the Whites. Although it was foiled before it started, it turned out to be the most comprehensive slave plot in U.S. history, and involved more than 1,000 free and enslaved blacks. And just like Nat Turner, Vesey was betrayed by an enslaved Black, who was afraid of the wrath of his White slave master. (Probably one of Kanye's ancestors -- I'm just sayin'...) ‘Nat Turner’s Rebellion’ was carried out by more than 70 armed slaves and free Blacks, in Southampton County, VA. Turner and his men invaded more than 15 homes and killed 55 to 60 whites as they moved toward the county seat of Jerusalem, VA. Because of the betrayal, the revolt was put down quickly, but Nat Turner eluded the slave patrols for more than a month.
These are just the most prominent and best documented cases of slaves rising up during the 246 years of chattel slavery in the U.S. And there were many more, so Kanye’s assertion that slavery ‘sound[s] like a choice...’ is so absolutely ridiculous that it exposes him for the clown that he is.
Dear Mr. West,
The biggest problem I have with this, is that you have gotten even more attention from the unquestioning, uninformed masses for this latest stream of ‘verbal diarrhea,’ than you have from any of your other poopy flows, which by the way, are occurring so frequently now that they have breached the limits of ‘annoying-ness.’
People like you, who don’t understand history, who don’t care to learn the rich and brave heritage of your ancestors, who take every chance you get to disrespect people who paved a way for you to succeed, and who spread your ‘toxic stupidity’ all over a willing ‘mainstream media’ stage, are not worthy of the ‘platform’ that you have access to.
My goal as a child of the universe, is to inspire and spread love. If you like this post, please come back and view more of my content. Love and Peace to you. Thank you.