I like the poetry in some rap lyrics, but I’m not really interested in rap music, or rappers. My latest book, Called to Account, has the theme of anti-Semitism. Therefore I was interested in a news article on the BBC about Kanye West, or Ye as he now identifies. He’s not a relative, as far as I can tell.
Kanye has praised Adolf Hitler and repeated anti-Semitic insults. He has also said that slavery was a choice. The people actively supporting him are far-right white supremacists. According to the BBC article he has also criticised women’s rights and insulted Taylor Swift.
Apparently he has a bipolar disorder and has spoken about his mental challenges. I sympathise, but medical experts and fellow sufferers don’t think it’s an excuse for racism. Nor do I. I’ve heard that Hitler may have suffered from Parkinson’s disease, but that isn’t an excuse either. Hitler must have had a deep seated hatred of Jews, but he was psychopathically clinical and strategic in his use of anti-Semitism. He used it to unite the German people to follow him. Some of his senior supporters wanted him to attack freemasonry too. However he wanted clear focus.
In Called to Account, I have tried to consider the causes of hate crime in general, and anti-Semitism in particular. Sadly the holocaust doesn’t seem to have shocked us into universal abhorrence of racism. The UK’s Labour Party has had it’s own struggles with anti-Semitism. Israel itself has been less than squeaky clean over Palestine. I’m not sure what we can do about it. Maybe we just need to keep calling it out, and calling it to account.
Having got that off my chest, I shall start writing my Christmas poem, ready for my first meeting with Corsham Writers. I think I’ll try writing a sonnet.