By Rebecca Do
The Kanye Situation
Ye, often referred to by his name “Kanye West,” is an American record producer and rapper. Recently, his behavior has been subject to scrutiny from people online due to his “absurd” behavior online. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2016.
Bipolar outbursts are nothing new to Kanye. Back in 2020, he went on a spur of rants on Twitter. Amidst these rants, his then-wife, model Kim Kardashian, tells people to have empathy when approaching mental health stigma. She shared on her Instagram story, “I am very protective of our children and Kanye’s right to privacy when it comes to his health. But today, I feel like I should comment on it because of the stigma and misconceptions about mental health.”
Emotional highs (mania and hypomania), as well as depression, can both be side effects of bipolar disorder.
Recently, Kanye has been under scrutiny for a multitude of reasons, all of which can be explained, not excused, by his disorder. He shared a series of worrying posts on Instagram directed at his ex-wife’s new boyfriend, Pete Davidson. Some comments included “no you will never meet my children,” captioned on an Instagram post that displayed private messages between him and his ex-wife.
One of the most “disturbing” things that Kanye has done these couple of weeks was releasing his new music video, which featured a claymation recreation of Pete Davidson being buried alive.
Amidst the (deserved) backlash, Kanye rebutted on Instagram, saying “Art is therapy just like this view. Art is protected as freedom of speech. Art inspires and simplifies the world. Art is not a proxy for any ill or harm. Any suggestion otherwise about my art is false and mal intended.”
It seems that people find his actions one of two things: disturbing, or amusing.
Racism and ableism
How does race, then, come into play when talking about mental health?
Everything from behavior in real life to behaviors in online platforms is about race.
The recurring usage of black people in media and memes is rooted in something sinister. This phenomenon is referred to as “digital blackface.” As opposed to “regular” blackface, which is when people dress as caricatures of Africans, digital blackface is the digital depiction of black people used by non-black people in order to express emotions such as shock and humor.
When mental health is added to the mix, it creates a storm of overwhelming racism and ableism from the people who find his situation funny enough to be turned into a joke. Kanye’s situation was met with a series of tweets coming from people, making memes out of his experiences and his actions.
To turn Kanye’s real struggles of BPD into a meme is an example of digital blackface, no matter how innocent the intentions are. We must approach the issue of racism and ableism with empathy. No matter the person, nobody should have to endure jokes being made about their lives and their health.
Though Kanye as an individual holds views that many do not support, people must realize that his behavior stems from his illness. This does not mean coddling him, nor does it mean slander him online for it, but rather educate people on the reasons he may be acting the way he does.
Social media acts as an invitation for teens to treat black celebrities like they’re caged animals. This behavior would not be acceptable in real life because people are much braver showing their racism and ableism when it’s through a screen. Just because a manic episode is publicized does not give people the right to poke fun at a side effect of BPD. We must be better.
