Althouse: "Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves, she just had the slaves go work for other white people...."

July 20, 2020

"Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves, she just had the slaves go work for other white people...."

"Now the Harriet Tubman thing is, I’m sick of this black iconography being used by white organization for us to look up to and say 'This is us.' I do not… I own 100% of the Yeezy trademark, but up until now Adidas was getting 85%. And now after this, they either out of business with me or they going to get 10%. I decided not to not make it 15. I decided to make it 10."

Said Kanye West at a rally in South Carolina yesterday. Read the whole transcript. I just wanted to get the part about Harriet Tubman out verbatim, because I'm seeing things like, "Kanye West criticizes Harriet Tubman at his political rally."

He's criticizing white people for taking advantage of black people one way or another. He's not criticizing Harriet Tubman. He's criticizing white people for using Harriet Tubman to show off what they think is their own virtue!

And he's defining slavery broadly to include all sorts of exploitation of black people by white people, including Adidas taking such a large percentage of the proceeds of the shoes they make and sell. He only got 15% for letting them use his name! That's on a continuum with slavery, no?

57 comments:

BarrySanders20 said...: There must be a German word for a German shoe manufacturer buying the raw materials for, making, distributing, marketing, and selling its own shoes with a trademark for which it pays 15% of the (gross?) sales to the American trademark holder who complains that the arrangement is akin not to slavery but to black exploitation and that the trademark holder should get 90% of the gross.; 7/20/20, 8:28 AM
DanTheMan said...: Is this a typo?
"That's on a continuum with slavery, no?"

I think it should read "That's on a continuum with slavery? No."; 7/20/20, 8:29 AM
rhhardin said...: Harriet Tubman shows how little you have to do to as a black to get white praise. She didn't even invent the peanut.; 7/20/20, 8:36 AM
gilbar said...: it's important to understand; that slavery, and wage slavery... ARE THE EXACT SAME THING!

If you're a Slave, you can't leave... This is true for wage slaves?
If you're a Slave, you can be sold to another master... This is true for wage slaves?
If you're a Slave, your CHILDREN will be sold .... This is true for wage slaves?
IF you're a Slave, you're can be beaten at will... This is true for wage slaves?
If you're a Slave, you can be killed at will... This is true for wage slaves?
If you're a Slave, you can be refused education... This is true for wage slaves?
If you're a Slave, you can be refused religion... This is true for wage slaves?
Finally; If you're a Slave, you Cannot vote... This is true for wage slaves?

See what i mean? EXACTLY THE SAME!; 7/20/20, 8:36 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Maybe Kanye should have run business decision by his billionaire wife first.; 7/20/20, 8:39 AM
tim maguire said...: So they designed, make, and market the shoes while he gets 15% just for letting them use his name? Sounds like a sweet deal for Kanye. Money for nuthin'.; 7/20/20, 8:42 AM
Howard said...: Another "Stable Genius"; 7/20/20, 8:46 AM
Big Mike said...: He only got 15% for letting them use his name! That's on a continuum with slavery, no?

NO!!! And if Adidas drops his line of shoes then he gets zero dollars. Unless he figures out how to build, market, and sell shoes on his own then he’s being more than adequately compensated.; 7/20/20, 8:49 AM
Lance said...: He's criticizing white people for using Harriet Tubman to show off what they think is their own virtue!

Isn't that what What Fragility says you're supposed to do? To "do the work" and study black authors, podcasters, etc. If you're going to tout that you've read Ta-Nehisi Coates, why can't you tout that you've studied Harriet Tubman?; 7/20/20, 8:53 AM
Fernandinande said...: "When Harriet Tubman, well Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves, she just had the slaves go work for other white people." is a criticism of Harriet Tubman. Gasp.; 7/20/20, 8:54 AM
Sebastian said...: "He only got 15% for letting them use his name!"

Only!

15% of what, exactly?; 7/20/20, 8:56 AM
DanTheMan said...: Welcome to 2020, the first year in history with exploited billionaires.; 7/20/20, 8:57 AM
daskol said...: In fairness to Kanye, he did not license his name. He also designed shoes and apparel for them, shoes and apparel so distinctive that now all Adidas take styling cues from the Yeezy line, and Adidas is again one of the hippest apparel brands in the world. Kanye did that.; 7/20/20, 9:09 AM
Ken B said...: I agree with Ann. He is being subjected to the tactic Jon Stewart perfected on the Daily Show, and that the MSM uses against a Trump ubiquitously. His point is in the “actually”.

Now I disagree with Kanye here. The freed slaves thought themselves freed. Their opinion carries more weight than his I say. But regardless, he is being distorted by a press fearful of him.; 7/20/20, 9:12 AM
Jupiter said...: "I own 100% of the Yeezy trademark, but up until now Adidas was getting 85%. And now after this, they either out of business with me or they going to get 10%. I decided not to not make it 15. I decided to make it 10."

That's like, crazy-generous, Kanye!; 7/20/20, 9:16 AM
chickelit said...: The modern Greek word for work as in job is δουλεύω which derives from the word for slave, δούλος. Thus when a Greek say he's going to work, he's in effect saying I'm slaving away. What does that say about the modern Greek work ethic?; 7/20/20, 9:17 AM
M Jordan said...: I like Kanye but he’s basically incoherent, imho.; 7/20/20, 9:17 AM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: He's criticizing white people for taking advantage of black people one way or another. He's not criticizing Harriet Tubman. He's criticizing white people for using Harriet Tubman to show off what they think is their own virtue!

Interesting! I caught an earful of NPR a few minutes ago; they were interviewing someone who was making a similar assertion about Robin DiAngelo and White Fragility.

Could the Guilty White Leftist/BLM alliance be crumbling?; 7/20/20, 9:20 AM
Francisco D said...: He only got 15% for letting them use his name! That's on a continuum with slavery, no?

People who sell real estate, retail shoes and cars could not be reached for comment. They are really angry about him getting 3-4 times their commission - a commission that they work hard to get.; 7/20/20, 9:23 AM
Birkel said...: I was going to type what DanTheMan typed.
That was easy.; 7/20/20, 9:28 AM
Paul said...: America was built as the land of Opportunity, not the land of 'free stuff'.

But Kanye feels they are not getting 'free stuff' thus they are still slaves.; 7/20/20, 9:45 AM
Joe Smith said...: @BarrySanders20

I don't know what that word is but you'd better believe it's really long : ); 7/20/20, 9:46 AM
rcocean said...: Look, I understand the need for black heroes. They're 13% of the population, and we need to be "inclusive" but Harriet Taubman was always a big myth that was written up by white Abolitionists.

"They" decided to shine the spotlight on Taubman because she was a woman. If you really want black heroes, you could pick out any number of black Union soldiers. There were 200,000 of them, and thousands died fighting the Confederacy. Or you could have picked out any number of blacks - at the risk of their own lives - who provided the Union army with vital information, or acted as guides.

Finally, people forget that of the 4 million blacks during the Civil War, 500,000 were NOT slaves. You had 250,000 free black folks in both the North and the South.; 7/20/20, 9:47 AM
Todd said...: “Everybody that has a baby gets a million dollars,” he said as an example.

If you are writing the check, go for it.; 7/20/20, 9:48 AM
Temujin said...: If he does not like the 15% from Adidas, he can always start sourcing his own materials, buy the materials, buy his own factory or pay an existing factory to make the shoes to his spec. Pay for production time. Pay for packaging materials, labeling, branding. Buy the global marketing that will sell the goods. Pay for the storage, shipping, and distribution of these products. And the employees used to make, ship, and market these products.

Then see if he wants to pay someone 90% of what he makes to continue to do this.

Not actually sure if this is an example of racism or an example of why the public school system needs to be broken up.; 7/20/20, 9:48 AM
Joe Smith said...: So Kanye isn't concerned with 8-year-old Vietnamese kids making his sneakers?

There was a meme going around depicting Tubman on a redesigned $20 bill as a gun-toting republican, replacing the racist democrat Jackson...

https://wp-media.patheos.com/blogs/sites/552/2016/04/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-2.55.01-PM-e1461182170120.png

Sorry for the long URL...it's been too long since I had to figure out links.; 7/20/20, 9:52 AM
Amadeus 48 said...: Yeezey is about to learn a few things. 15% of something is a lot more than 90% of nothing. Or maybe he wants to organize all those child laborers in Asia who make shoes for Adidas.; 7/20/20, 9:56 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: The only difference, between Kanye and other bi-polar people, is the platform his celebrity brings.

I don't interpret what he says, now, as anything but an "episode".

I got a bi-polar friend who steals hats when he's high.

He looks great but I'm not gonna think too deeply about it.; 7/20/20, 10:03 AM
Rocketeer said...: That's on a continuum with slavery, no?

Only in the same very stupid way one may argue that every social and commercial interaction all of us engage in are. Kanye West entered into his existing agreement with Adidas voluntarily, just as I entered into my contract for my present employment, which is therefore also "on a continuum with slavery." Ridiculous.; 7/20/20, 10:13 AM
narciso said...: kanyes father was a former black panther who became a christian counselor, his mother was an english teacher.; 7/20/20, 10:21 AM
Bilwick said...: Big difference: if an actual slave escaped to the North, went to work for a white person, and then was unhappy with that employment, he or she could quit and go elsewhere without being hunted down by "blackbirders" with guns and packs of dogs. I'd say that was an improvement. Of course to the proto-Leftist George Fitzhugh, there was no difference between being a "wage slave" in the North and an actual slave in the South. I guess Kanye and the South's most articulate defender of "the peculiar institution" would agree on that.; 7/20/20, 10:32 AM
Leland said...: What has Adidas done with its 85%? Market the shoes? Hire people to make the shoes? Buy equipment to help make the shoes? Purchase the raw material? Kanye has a family to feed!; 7/20/20, 10:52 AM
madAsHell said...: ...and without Black people there wouldn't be any market for over-priced tulip bulbs......er, I mean.....tennis shoes.; 7/20/20, 10:54 AM
SweatBee said...: He could design, manufacture, market, and distribute the shoes himself and keep 100%. Just a thought...; 7/20/20, 10:54 AM
Owen said...: I wish Kanye would show all the numbers in his Yeezy deal. Hard to believe Adidas will agree to go from 85-15 to 10-90 if it is still stuck with manufacturing, distributing, marketing and administration of product across thousands of outlets. Maybe his Black business mojo will do all that for him. If so, why did he wait all these years? Did he only just get Woke to his Black superpowers?

And if Kanye can do this, why not all Black entertainers, sports giants, etc?; 7/20/20, 10:54 AM
n.n said...: Black people working for white people. White people working for white people. White people working for black people. When does it end?; 7/20/20, 10:59 AM
madAsHell said...: There must be a German word

FarFromGroovin'; 7/20/20, 11:00 AM
Drago said...: Crack: "I got a bi-polar friend who steals hats when he's high."

What kind of hats?; 7/20/20, 11:15 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Harriet Tubman, like so many who have lived and died, ultimately failed to make this world a perfect place. Darn it.

Maybe Kanye can pull it off. If he does, they should put up a statue. Plenty of pedestals have opened up.; 7/20/20, 11:19 AM
DanTheMan said...: >>“Everybody that has a baby gets a million dollars,” he said as an example.

Somebody will owe me $3 million. Or, more correctly, Mrs. DtM.

Or is it like Warren's student loan forgiveness?
If you were irresponsible and borrowed well beyond your ability to ever pay it back, you will get hundreds of thousands of dollars of free education.

If you were stupid enough to pay your loan back, you get nothing.; 7/20/20, 11:24 AM
bagoh20 said...: It's a two way street, dude. If they can sell their production capacity to some other name for more than 10%, then they don't want you.; 7/20/20, 11:37 AM
Yancey Ward said...: I think West is going to find that Adidas can get better deals for what I assume is percentage of the gross profit on the shoes. If West wants to actually get that 90%, he is going to have to start up his own shoe factories.; 7/20/20, 11:45 AM
DanTheMan said...: >>It's a two way street, dude.

That's exactly right. They get to negotiate the deal. Kanye doesn't get to dictate terms, and neither does Adidas. And either one can walk away.

I know that the lefties have a real problem understanding this whole free enterprise business, and want to dictate both the price and and the product.; 7/20/20, 12:09 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Is this a typo?
"That's on a continuum with slavery, no?"

I think it should read "That's on a continuum with slavery? No.""

It's not a typo. It's sarcasm.; 7/20/20, 12:12 PM
Rocko said...: Is "the continuum" like the spectrums popular today which range from 0-100? If so, everyone is conveniently contained by the continuum/spectrum, no?; 7/20/20, 12:13 PM
Yancey Ward said...: It's the slippery continuum.; 7/20/20, 12:44 PM
n.n said...: Is "the continuum" like the spectrums popular today

Like a Rainbow, featuring exclusion of black, brown, and the shredded remains of white lives.; 7/20/20, 12:47 PM
DanTheMan said...: >>It's not a typo. It's sarcasm.

As was my "correction". :); 7/20/20, 12:50 PM
Not Sure said...: Where on the slavery continuum was FUBU?; 7/20/20, 12:54 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Drago said...

Crack: "I got a bi-polar friend who steals hats when he's high."

"What kind of hats?"

Fedoras. White guy. Walks into the house, rips his shirt off (pierced nipples) leaves the hat on.; 7/20/20, 1:58 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: In _Beloved_, there is an extended scene where the female slave protagonist decides that the white abolitionist Quakers who freed her were no better than the slavers. Because they had black (paid) servants. _Beloved_ is a wicked book, in its world white people only exist to oppress black people. Black people can only survive by binding together against the white man. It is a narcissistic book, in it, white people have no existence other than as they are imagined by black people.; 7/20/20, 2:22 PM
DanTheMan said...: >>Where on the slavery continuum was FUBU?

Just after FUBAR.; 7/20/20, 2:24 PM
Drago said...: Crack: "Fedoras. White guy. Walks into the house, rips his shirt off (pierced nipples) leaves the hat on."

Is he a friend of Roger Stone's?; 7/20/20, 4:58 PM
John henry said...: I wonder how the contract reads?

It is a voluntary contract, entered into voluntarily presumably on terms beneficial to both parties.

I'd be willing to bet that it has some time frame. That the contract remains in effect until a certain date unchangeable unless certain conditions are met.

So Kanye can't just go to them and say he wants 90% starting today. Adidas has a contract that runs until, say, July 2020 and they can hold him to it.

If he decides to be an asshole about it, I am sure that there is some non-disparagement clause where Nike can cancel the contract and sue him for damages.

Seems to me that until the contract expires, there is nothing Kanye can do. Maybe not even piss and moan about Adidas exploiting him (Non-disparagement clause)

John Henry; 7/20/20, 7:39 PM
John henry said...: Link to the article about 2bn doses produced on spec.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52917118

This reminds me of a Pfizer drug I was involved with about 15 years ago. They built an entire plant, probably $100mm or so, hired people and produced a whole warehouse full of the almost finished tablets in bottles.

Because they did not have the final approval, including label warnings etc, they could not put label the bottles nor put it in cartons and corrugated shippers.

The reasoning for this was that they had a certain number of days (years actually but they expressed it in days) until the patent expired, regardless of when they came to market.

The drug, while on patent could sell for 2-3 times what it would sell for after the patent expired. Each day of delay getting to market after approval would cost something like half a million dollars.

They had the labels and cartons with expected approved art already printed and on hand. The minute the drug was approved, they would start putting the labels on the bottles and the bottles in the cartons and shipping them.

A bit different than the vaccine situation but another example of speed to market.

John Henry; 7/20/20, 7:50 PM
John henry said...: Blogger Drago said...

Crack: "Fedoras. White guy. Walks into the house, rips his shirt off (pierced nipples) leaves the hat on."

Is he a friend of Roger Stone's?

I think Crack is talking about Governor Cuomo.

The nipple piercings are the giveway.

John Henry; 7/20/20, 7:52 PM
Known Unknown said...: "So Kanye isn't concerned with 8-year-old Vietnamese kids making his sneakers?"

He bought 4000 acres in Wyoming with plans to build his own textile mills, etc.; 7/20/20, 10:24 PM