Rap superstar and culture critic Kanye West accused many in the black community of hypocrisy by focusing more of their outrage on white violence against black people or his decision to wear a Donald Trump campaign hat than the problems in black communities.
“Black people have a tendency to focus and march when a white person kills a black person or wears a hat, but when it’s 700 kids being killed in Chicago it’s O.K.,” Kanye West said during a lengthy and wide-ranging interview with TMZ boss Harvey Levin on Tuesday.
The Grammy-winning rapper-producer’s words infuriated Van Lathan, a black reporter at the TMZ office who said Kanye was lying, pointing to people in those communities working to improve them.
“There’s been more focus and more marches about whites killing blacks than kids in Chicago killing each other,” West continued. “Ninety percent of black people being killed are killed by other blacks.”
Indeed, to Kanye’s point, according to the FBI’s latest annual “Crime in the United States” report, 90 percent of black Americans killed in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 were killed by blacks.
Lathan continued shouting at the rapper, some of which was censored, prompting West to walk across the room to give him a hug.
“I love you, bro,” he said. “I am sorry I hurt you with my words.”
“Bro you gotta be responsible, man … your voice is too big,” Lathan replied.
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