Kanye hear me now?

Kanye West, some blithering rap idiot, has used an NBC live concert hurricane relief fund-raiser to attempt to increase the racial divide in this country. First Reverend Jesse and now this no-nothing moron!!!

He and Mike Myers of Austin Powers fame were supposed to read a scripted message regarding the devastation caused by the failed levees. Myers followed the script but Kanye did not.

I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, "They're looting." You see a white family, it says, "They're looking for food." And, you know, it's been five days [waiting for federal help] because most of the people are black. And even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite because I've tried to turn away from the TV because it's too hard to watch. I've even been shopping before even giving a donation, so now I'm calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give, and just to imagine if I was down there, and those are my people down there. So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help -- with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible. I mean, the Red Cross is doing everything they can. We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way -- and they've given them permission to go down and shoot us!

What television program do you watch, Kanye? I know blacks and whites were looting. I also know that many were getting food and water for their families, black and white. But there were an awful lot people walking out of jewelry stores, shoe stores, electronics stores, and drug stores. And they weren't carrying jugs of water or bags of food. And for the most part, they weren't white. And, not surprizingly, they were running from law enforcement officials. Did the media make them loot? Did the media make them run from the law? Maybe if they weren't doing something overtly illegal and illogical (are the TV's and stereos gonna do much for you when you have no home and no electricity?), they wouldn't have felt inclined to run when the law came around?

Was it the photos that were run by AP and AFP in national papers that one showed a black man with items from a grocery store and a caption that labelled him a "looter" and on with a white couple with items from a grocery and a caption that labelled them "finders?"

According to the AP, which depicted the black man as a looter,

Jack Stokes, AP's director of media relations, confirmed today that Dave Martin (photographer) says he witnessed the people in his images looting a grocery store. "He saw the person go into the shop and take the goods," Stokes said, "and that's why he wrote 'looting' in the caption."

AFP, which published the photto of the white couple finding groceries, stated

I wrote the caption about the two people who 'found' the items. I believed in my opinion, that they did simply find them, and not 'looted' them in the definition of the word. The people were swimming in chest deep water, and there were other people in the water, both white and black. I looked for the best picture. there were a million items floating in the water — we were right near a grocery store that had 5+ feet of water in it. it had no doors. the water was moving, and the stuff was floating away. These people were not ducking into a store and busting down windows to get electronics. They picked up bread and cokes that were floating in the water. They would have floated away anyhow.

Maybe it isn't what the media has broadcast about the people in New Orleans that has portrayed black people as looters, rapists, and murderers. What about your own medium, Kanye? What about the genre of rap and hip-hop? Does this medium portray positive images of blacks for mass consumption? Oh, that's right!!! I forgot - you guys rap about "bustin' a cap" in someone for dissing you or killing cops or raping some "bitches." I can't imagine where anyone would ever get the impression that black people are all about looting, raping, and killing.

As far as someone giving the order to shoot someone, I have a problem with armed thugs walking the streets of any city without any challenge from the authorities. I believe that having roving gangs of armed looters is reason enough to issue a shoot-to-kill order, regardless of what color they are. This is the real world, punk! This isn't about your f'ed up world view of black versus white and your piss-ant hip-hop/rap reputation!!! Yeah, I'm "dissing" your sorry ass! What are you gonna do about it? You gonna shoot me? Bring it on!!

I guess the media has portrayed you in a bad light, too, and you haven't got over it. Didn't Suge Knight get shot at your party last week? I wouldn't worry about how the media portrays black people if I were you. I'd clean up my own backyard first, thug.