Kanye West caused a stir last week when he announced his love for Donald Trump. In a series of tweets, Kanye revealed his admiration for the president and also took photos wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat.
Most within the hip-hop community were appalled by West’s action and some claimed that he was deep in the “Sunken Place.” John Legend attempted to reason with West through text, but it did not work. T.I. shared his disagreements with West in the recently released song, “Kanye vs. The People.” Questlove wore a shirt that read, “Kanye doesn’t care about Black People” this past weekend. And Snoop blasted West in a series of posts on Instagram and joked that Kanye was auditioning for the film, Get Out 2.
But Daz Dillinger, member of Tha Dogg Pound, may have taken things a bit too far. In a video posted on social media, Daz, who grew up a Crip in Long Beach, California, called on all Crips to beat down West because he supports Trump.
“Yo national alert, all the Crips out there, y’all f— Kanye up,” Daz said. “Better not ever see you in concert. Better not ever see you around the LBC. Better not ever see you around California.”
Daz warned West to remain in the wealthier section of California, saying, “Stay in Calabasas, ya hear me? ‘Cuz we got a Crip alert for Kanye. All the Crips out there — you see him, bang on his a–, f— his a– up. ”
While West is apparently supporting Trump for foolish reasons, he does not deserve to be beaten down. And if the Crips are seeking to be more proactive politically, it might be a better use of energy to organize protests against racist police who kill unarmed Black people.
There are a number of issues that should be attacked within the Black community such as mass incarceration, unemployment rates, gerrymandering, housing discrimination, and police violence.
West’s support of Trump remains disturbing on many levels. But it would be equally disturbing for Crip gang members to beat another Black man down for his political views.
