Mychal Denzel Smith: Kanye-Trump Meeting Not ‘Surprising,’ Kanye ‘Finds Validation Through a Lens of Whiteness’

On Tuesday’s “MSNBC Live,” The Nation writer and author Mychal Denzel Smith argued that Kanye West’s meeting with President-Elect Donald Trump wasn’t “surprising” given that West “finds validation through a lens of whiteness in a lot of ways, and Donald Trump is the ultimate white man,” and also “likes famous people.”

Smith said, “I’m still worried about Kanye. He’s still fresh out of being involuntarily committed to a mental institution for paranoia and sleep deprivation and depression. So, I’m worried about him on a number of levels. But also, this isn’t surprising, given that Kanye West has an obsession with celebrity. He likes fame. He likes famous people. He also finds validation through a lens of whiteness in a lot of ways, and Donald Trump is the ultimate white man, right?”

He added, “I think that Kanye wants to be accepted into the most successful spaces, which are white spaces. He wants for the big fashion houses that have excluded black people to accept him, because he’s Kanye West. He wants to transcend race, in so many different ways, and have his art valued in certain spaces that aren’t his millions of fans that may happen to be young black people. He’s not too concerned about that. What he is concerned about is the validation of, you know, white institutions and white people, and Donald Trump right now is poised to be the most powerful person in the planet.”

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