Several prominent Black rappers have recently aligned themselves with conservative politicians and media figures, which the author finds concerning. Rappers like Ice Cube, Kanye West, and Lil Wayne have sat down with Tucker Carlson and supported Donald Trump. However, the author argues that right-wing populism threatens Black communities. While some see these moves as opening dialogue, the author believes shared values around money, religion, and distrust in institutions have brought these unlikely groups together against vulnerable people. As the hip-hop industry has become more commercialized and corporate, rappers have also gained wealth and political influence, but supporting policies that don’t help everyday Black Americans. The author maintains that rap artists have a duty to use their platforms responsibly by advocating for politics that materially improve conditions in Black communities.
They’re rich. Dave Chapelle said it best. He’s rich first, black second.
Came here to say this. It’s a lot more to do with class warfare at this point.
Every other type of social warfare is a smoke screen for class warfare. Even during the US civil war a lot of the issue the slaveowners had was that they were losing a huge amount of free labor which would put them at an economic disadvantage. The rich’s most successful invention is driving social wedge issues to distract from the class war that has been raging one-sided for millenia.
Because they are rich capitalists.
“Why do members of this oppressed group side with oppressors” is a perennial question, like why are there so many Republican women when Republicans generally are anti-woman…
The answer is usually something like, if you’re high on the totem pole in several ways the fact that you’re not high on the totem pole in all ways might not matter so much to you.
If you’re rich, straight, cis, and male, but not white, you get a lot out of being rich and male and straight and cis, so you may support the group that protects the interests of rich, straight, male people, even though they might not be nice to black people, the fact that you’re on the same page on so many other axes means at least they’ll usually treat you OK cause you’re one of them in so many other ways.
See also: middle class white cis straight women, or Log Cabin republicans, or whatever.
Also: poor white straight cis men.
Agreed on the basic appeal of core values, BUT there is another vector that the article sidesteps: unabashed tokenism. The extreme right knows it has a pretty nasty optics problem. Most of them try to avoid directly referencing white supremacists (even when their staff members give the game away). They all know that they walk in the shadow of a KKK costume. So, what’s a nice white politician to do? Get some Black people on stage who will blow right past the obvious racist motivations that has landed them in the limelight. Give them some cheap attention and some easy money. It’s a win-win for everyone on stage, that is until the token has worn out their usefulness.
This is pretty much how I see it. Cash can’t solve everything, but it sure smoothes out a heck of a lot of bumps along the way. A lot of people will look the other way if they feel they can get something out of you.
Anyone hard right I know is either a bigot, well to do, or both. When you can have a single income family or you’re a jerk, many of these issues don’t even make it on your radar. They just seem to not exist or be someone else’s problem.
This is why intersectionality is key and platitudes like “no war but the class war” miss the point entirely (and ignore all the people who are marginalised for reasons other than wealth and class).
Sure, the class war is essential, but without going to war against all other oppression too, you just end up with fucked up and oxymoronic shit like “national” socialism…
I think this is mostly just a case of becomming super rich. It happens a LOT to people who become wealthy, it tends to change your personality and the way you think, usually for the worse.
There have been many studies that confirm this. Though there are a few exceptions, the data shows rich people really do tend to behave like entitled assholes, think they know better, think they ARE better.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/mbqknn/having-a-lot-of-money-affects-your-personality https://www.vox.com/2015/6/16/8790357/rich-people-jerks
Of course. You start to be surrounded by hangers on, desperate to get in your good graces because we have a weird cult of celebrity and wealth.
Your entire world changes when people start to keep your surroundings favorable to your tastes and people only ever tell you “yes.” You start to believe that you are right all the time and your tastes are impeccable and your opinions fascinating. And then people like tucker Carlson will utilize that for his own ends, extending and utilizing that yes-man follower role to pervert your appearance or your fan base, to achieve something he’s always tried to achieve—but for his own desires (those desires that are, again, shaped by growing up überwealthy, being told you’re special and better since you’ve been old enough to fuckin speak.
Everyone is using everyone else. Some people just have way worse—and way larger—intentions.
I think in qi they once bright it like this:
‘What thing you can buy at a newsagents can change the way you vote?’
The answer is a lottery ticket. Most people who win the lottery change their voting habits to reflect their new status.
A bit like people in bmw/Mercedes not using them blinkers. Once prime feel like they’ve made it they change habits pretty fast. It’s pretty shallow, to say the least, but unfortunately not uncommon.
Because they’re rich and insulated from (the worst of) racism now. Plus, a lot of these dudes really don’t want to change the status quo, since it got them where they are. Just look at how a lot of Black women get treated by Black men. Look at specifically how these rappers have treated Black women. They want the patriarchy in place, they just want to be at the top of it with white men, and now that they’re rich enough, they de facto are.
