Wild, wild West

The MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas last weekend delivered a standard menu of the good, the bad and the ugly.\nThe ugly: Britney Spear’s clumsy, stripper-channeling opening performance has kept post-awards commentators buzzing. But I won’t kick a tragic mess when she’s down, so let’s consider Kanye West, who was both the bad and the good.\nWest received the poor loser award – again. At the 2006 MTV Europe Video Music Awards he rushed the stage and unleashed an expletive filled tirade explaining why his video should’ve won an award. Last weekend West was shut out in all five categories for which he was nominated so he threw a tantrum backstage, swore he’d never return to MTV, and shouted, “That’s two years in a row, man ... give a black man a chance. I’m trying hard man, I have the No. 1 record, man.”\n “Give a black man a chance?” As if racist voters banded together to ensure Kanye perceived a “whites only” sign at the VMAs. My knee-jerk reaction is to reject his complaint and highlight the absurdity of the claim. The list of recent VMA winners includes Usher, Outkast, Jay-Z, Ludacris, 50 Cent – even Kanye West as the Best Male Video winner in 2005. Diddy and Chris Rock recently hosted the ceremony. The VMAs have given black men a chance, and black women, too: notably Missy Elliot, Alicia Keys and Beyoncé in recent years.\nBut after my quick dismissal, I thought more critically about Kanye’s outburst. The bad became the good in the form of a serious civic lesson.\nThe specific truth of his complaint isn’t as important as the fact that it’s true for West. Why not consider the reasons Kanye believes race is involved?\nAs a white guy who can choose never to think about my race, I can claim easily, “race has nothing to do with it.” But it’s safe to assume that as a black man in the United States, West has ample experience with racism. For someone whose race is called to his attention virtually every day, presumptions of racial bias are not far-fetched. Who am I to dismiss his feelings and experiences of racism simply because I don’t understand or don’t want to admit that something that seems fair to me appears to be anything but to someone else?\nIt’s likely the quick dismissal only echoes and amplifies his negative racial encounters. Imagine your reaction if day-in and day-out your experiences and feelings were wholly refuted and rejected. You’d be upset, too.\nInstead, if we take seriously Kanye’s perspective, we might look at other events more critically. For example, Kid Rock assaulted Tommy Lee at the VMAs last weekend and the public treated it as an isolated feud between two stupid guys. But if a black rap artist had assaulted another black artist, the public would see further evidence that black men are depraved and menacing. Maybe Kanye West’s frustration isn’t so misguided.\nAnd maybe West’s frankness and honesty about the bad and ugly of racism in America is ultimately good.