Two weeks ago, Ye (formerly Kanye West) released what can only be described as a deliberate provocation – a song so filled with hate that its very title combines racial and Nazi imagery. I won’t repeat it here because words matter, and these particular words should never be normalized.
Released on May 8th – Victory in Europe Day marking Nazi Germany’s surrender – the timing was no accident. This wasn’t art. This was arson.
Our Pain Doesn’t Justify Inflicting Pain
The struggle of Black Americans is written in blood, sweat, and tears across centuries of American history. Our ancestors endured the unspeakable horrors of slavery, Jim Crow, and systemic oppression.
But here’s the hard truth: Our historical suffering doesn’t grant us immunity from moral accountability. It doesn’t provide a license to perpetuate hatred toward Jewish people or any other group.
The Bible Speaks Clearly
Scripture reminds us that justice isn’t selective. Exodus 23:9 commands: “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.”
God’s message is clear: Having experienced oppression should make us less likely to become oppressors, not more. Our suffering should build empathy, not entitlement.
The False Equivalence
Some defenders claim this is about “evening the score” or “speaking truth to power.” But this defense fails both biblically and historically.
Antisemitism isn’t truth – it’s a lie older than America itself. Hitler’s ideology didn’t just target Jews; it deemed Black people subhuman as well. By embracing any part of Nazism, we betray not only our neighbors but our own ancestors who fought against these very ideologies.
A Higher Calling
As Black Americans, our struggle for justice is righteous. But righteousness demands consistency. We cannot decry hatred directed at us while celebrating it when it is aimed elsewhere.
Galatians 3:28 reminds us: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Our community has produced figures like Frederick Douglass who understood that freedom and dignity are indivisible. True moral clarity recognizes that our liberation must never come at the expense of others.
The Way Forward
We must reject Ye’s provocation not because it offends, but because it corrupts. It attempts to twist our legitimate struggles into a weapon against others who have also faced centuries of persecution.
True empowerment never comes through dehumanizing others. It comes through holding fast to principles that elevate all humanity.
Our history doesn’t give us permission to hate. It gives us the responsibility to heal.
