“Once again, I am being attacked for presenting new ideas,” Kanye West tweeted on Tuesday evening. It’s just one of the latest tweets penned by the rapper and fashion mogul since he’s announced his status as a “free thinker,” offending thousands daily with each message connecting himself to far-right pundits and President Donald Trump.
Except, this time, it would appear that West is failing to bounce back from this latest round of criticism—and with good reason. By “new ideas,” West was referring to his assertion on TMZ hours earlier that 400 years of slavery was “a choice.” And by “being attacked,” West was referring to Twitter’s mocking reaction, showing him what life would have really been like for enslaved Africans had slavery been a choice.
“When you hear about slavery for 400 years—for 400 years? That sounds like a choice,” West said. “You was there for 400 years, and it’s all of y’all? It’s like we’re mentally in prison.”
Using the hashtags #IfSlaveryWasAChoice and #IfSlaveryWereAChoice, Twitter users punched up at West’s backasswards thoughts on slavery and carved out space online to really deconstruct what having “choice” in an “employment situation” looks like.
Some tweeted about just being able to, you know, leave enslavement.
https://twitter.com/asapyonna/status/991544708357750784
Others tweeted about being able to excel within slavery as an industry, going to college, and being assigned to working in the house versus the fields, or “embezzling” cotton to make into “a brunch fit.”
When you win plantations got talent #IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/fyH38edMNR
— Janet (@_janetsplanet) May 2, 2018
When you a freshman at Slave University and you get assigned to the house #IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/nACNQdW4e6
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) May 2, 2018
When I embezzled a bunch of cotton that my fellow slaves picked and made a brunch fit. #IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/9Mu7BbYTIP
— Jawn Flick (@kidnoble) May 2, 2018
#IfSlaveryWasAChoice
— Turnpike ike (@_bvzzle) May 2, 2018
when you thought you and the squad got split up but you see them on the slave ship pic.twitter.com/D3BxcfXVIs
https://twitter.com/Doncorrr/status/991573152923824128
When you can’t make it to Massa’s class #IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/7UwL9CPw91
— MXBDII (@mxbdii) May 2, 2018
And some discussed the “work culture,” like being able to “set up playlists,” “file intellectual property lawsuits,” and “not wanting to put in effort at the end of a shift.” You know, things that people with jobs they’ve chosen to do sometimes get to do, but definitely not enslaved people.
When massa complaining about people not wanting to work but you’re still deciding if you’re gonna call out this Friday or this Saturday #IfSlaveryWereAChoice pic.twitter.com/wFwGfCpgKn
— Toritto (@maybeaspam) May 2, 2018
Me rereading the fine print on the slave contract after getting a check for $ 0.00#IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/SiC8fscOLE
— ✋🏾😧🤚🏾 (@shesaboutdone) May 2, 2018
#IfSlaveryWasAChoice
— YungShabazz (@WHOTFIsdaquan) May 2, 2018
When massa tells a boring story and you have to act interested, otherwise you gettin hanged. pic.twitter.com/WwnhOzak0L
When you see a row of unpicked cotton but yo shift almost over #IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/rjJ0YQJdpN
— Wholesome (@jimmybsmith99) May 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/TheKitchenista/status/991537843825795072
Setting up the work playlist for the day #IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/Tp8vEfvlCz
— Luke Lawal Jr. (@lukelawal) May 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/byecrisg/status/991541145015607296
Some tweeted about joining Harriet Tubman on the Underground Railroad, referencing history that might do West some good to get reacquainted with.
Harriet Tubman: I’m out side hurry up before I leave yo ass
— Josephdonasonmma (@JoethegenZ) May 2, 2018
Me:#IfSlaveryWereAChoice pic.twitter.com/dtmIuFHoJ8
Harriet Tubman pulling up at 12am #IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/yUJaDip8Re
— G💯 (@RielFine1) May 2, 2018
When Massa catch me going to Harriet’s kickback after I called in sick for my field shift earlier. #IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/WKs6IaONhk
— Drebae (@Drebae_) May 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/Aulems/status/991549681984401408
Harriet: Get in loser we’re going to the Underground Railroad
— PowerStarLive (@PowerStarLive) May 2, 2018
Me: #IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/2GCCWa0dvJ
Me when i missed Harriet Tubman’s “you up” text #IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/1J3IRS4VeY
— Dre (@DreTheOutcast) May 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/zarestheartist/status/991559296637919232
When masa tries to send you back to the field but Harriet shows up #IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/W8YwKThDfW
— PowerStarLive (@PowerStarLive) May 2, 2018
Some tweeted about what it would look like to stand up to their slave owner, using some of the internet’s most beloved memes and vines to show that, if slavery had been a choice, they wouldn’t have taken such abuse. But, again, people did not choose to become and remain enslaved, and avoiding such abuse was also not an option.
#IfSlaveryWereAChoice
— angelina🏳️🌈 (@cocaxnee) May 2, 2018
Massa: If y’all don’t pick no cotton, y’all goin get the whip!
Slaves: iF yA’lL dOnT PiCk nO cOTton, yALl gOiN gE- man stfu pic.twitter.com/4GWd0GcBU7
#IfSlaveryWasAChoice
— Nick Flowers (@_NickFlowers_) May 2, 2018
Massa: You coming in today?
Me: pic.twitter.com/oE3dPYabTb
Massa – bet ya won’t just leave #IfSlaveryWasAChoice pic.twitter.com/PuY2gYaCym
— Bat (@ObeyBats) May 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/7Jamirp/status/991578445728579584
https://twitter.com/therealkhib/status/991573346776215552
Overall, the hashtags turned an outright false and insulting statement into a moment of satire and wit, once again showing West that he should probably reconsider his position on team “Never read books.” Because, even though West later tweeted that he “knows” that slavery wasn’t a “choice,” the next time he goes off perpetuating some other racist, misinformed understanding of institutional oppression, his critics might not respond as gently as laughing him off with vines and memes.
