>
> Would a white evangelical preacher with similar politics ever achieve
> West's fame and wealth? Of course not. It's a performance for a largely
> white audience that *expects* black people to act all dramatic.
Maybe if once upon a time s/he also did solid pragmatist philosophy? Like West?
I admit I'm more in the Sean camp than with the rest of you on this. There are times when he also makes me uncomfortable, but I also have to wonder if part of the problem with West for the American left (lower-case in a nod to Carrol) is his deep religiosity. When he talks "brothers and sisters," for example, that's him being Christian at least as much as it is him being "black" (using the quotes since we're talking about some parody of blackness). I wonder if there's not a tendency to conflate these things . . .
Just a thought.
j