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21 Savage and LeBron apologize for Jewish lyrics: Why they had to
Both 21 Savage and LeBron James issued apologies this past Christmas Eve after becoming the latest victims to political correctness’ righteous claws.
The Atlanta rap star and three-time NBA Champion both came under fire by the Jewish community after Lebron posted lyrics to 21 Savage’s song “ASMR” off his latest album, I Am > I Was.
The track features the line: “We been gettin’ that Jewish money, everything is kosher.”
First came 21 Savage’s apology:
The Jewish people I know are very wise with there money so that’s why I said we been gettin Jewish money I never thought anyone would take offense I’m sorry if I offended everybody never my intention I love all people
— Saint Laurent Don (@21savage) December 25, 2018
Then came LeBron’s:
“Apologies, for sure if I offended anyone. That’s not why I chose to share that lyric. I always [post lyrics]. That’s what I do. I ride in my car, I listen to great music, and that was the byproduct of it. So, I actually thought it was a compliment, and obviously, it wasn’t through the lens of a lot of people. My apologies. It definitely was not the intent, obviously, to hurt anybody.”
If you’re like LeBron and 21 Savage (and me) and had no clue associating Jewish people to extreme fiscal responsibility was offensive, welcome to the enlightening. In fact, after reading the responses and seeing the outrage after LeBron’s little A&R session, I found out it’s unquestionably antisemitic.
Seeing Jewish people as “cheap” played a key role in Nazi propaganda leading up to the Holocaust when Hitler sought to portray Jews as leeches sucking up the German state’s resources as they implemented their vision for racial purity. Knowing this, sympathizing with any claim disrespect is easy seeing that the Nazi regime went on to kill six million Jews.
I take both LeBron and 21 Savage’s apologies as sincere. I truly believe 21’s intention was to reference Jewish people in a positive manner, not that of Nazi propaganda. And I’m positive LeBron didn’t know any better (the NBA does, too, and won’t take further action after hearing his response). With that being said, how the situation unraveled left me pessimistic about the state of our current social environment.
The level of disdain they received and how quickly word got around let me know just how ready we are to not only cancel someone but to make them the newest example of how serious we, as a society, take morality now.
I’m not saying 21 Savage and Bron deserves a pass, but instead of dropping the hammer of judgment why not give them the benefit of the doubt and approach the situation with a mind to educate, not condemn.
Part of the problem is that some of us are stuck in this “gotcha” era where everyone is obsessed with finding the worse in one another and exposing it to the internet. No one cares to find out the full story, they just want to see someone lose some money or a job.
Such was the case with Kevin Hart. He was forced to step down as host of the upcoming Academy Awards, a self-proclaimed lifelong goal of his, after old homophobic tweets resurfaced and went viral.
These were almost decade-long jokes he’s since apologized for, however, with the LGBTQ community putting pressure on the Academy to make Kevin to apologize for it again, which he refused to the second time, things blew up and he was taken out of the show.
Much is the same for the young ace for the Milwaukee Brewers, Josh Hader, who apologized after old racist tweets of his resurfaced and the white fiancee of a Black NFL player who was forced to go silence after old racist tweets of hers resurfaced moments after his proposal to her went viral online this year. No one is safe and we’re all politically incorrect.
Even Chris Rock is feeling it. After an old clip of him letting other comedic legends say the N-word in his presence went viral this month, he’s been getting ripped apart online. I wouldn’t be surprised if he issued a statement soon.
The black delegation have decided to trade Chris Rock for Jerry Seinfeld. https://t.co/Nbpl6g4kK5
— Gimmigh0ul 🔜 Holmat (@gh0ulface) December 23, 2018
To be politically correct today is to be perfect and with every tweet unearthed we inch closer to setting the bar for ourselves.
21 Savage and LeBron apologized because they were wrong which, according to cancel culture, should mean it’s a wrap for them.
Luckily, they were spared, but this puts other rap stars and athletes in jeopardy of losing it all in the future. Let’s be grateful Twitter didn’t exist long ago; not one single “legend” would be acceptable today.
I Am > I Was arrived last Friday and features Childish Gambino, J. Cole, Schoolboy Q, City Girls, Post Malone, and others. Don’t let this one line stop you from enjoying one of the best album releases of the year.