Do Kanye’s Words Matter?

Hip-hop superstar Kanye West is under fire for saying slavery was a choice.
West was a guest on the TV show TMZ Live Tuesday morning when he said, “When you hear about slavery for 400 years … For 400 years? That sounds like a choice. You were there for 400 years and it’s all of y’all. It’s like we’re mentally imprisoned.”

TMZ staffer Van Lathan was quick to call Kanye out.
Van pointed out the power and influence Kanye has on his fans.

While you are making music and being an artist and living the life that you’ve earned by being a genius, the rest of us in society have to deal with these threats to our lives,” Lathan said. “We have to deal with the marginalization that’s come from the 400 years of slavery that you said for our people was a choice.”

Kanye spent several hours Tuesday evening trying to explain himself on Twitter.

In one tweet he wrote: ‘To make myself clear. Of course I know that slaves did not get shackled and put on a boat by free will. My point is for us to have stayed in that position even though the numbers were on our side means that we were mentally enslaved.’

He also tweeted: ‘Once again I am being attacked for presenting new ideas.’