Whatever name Kanye goes by, we must call antisemitism what it is: Dangerous hate that's surging

If you’re looking for trenchant social commentary, Ye—the artist formerly-but-also-still known as Kanye West—probably isn’t your guy. You can take pretty much anything he says with a grain of salt (and if you actually want to understand any of it, you’ll need to take it with a few grains of bath salts as well).

Ye saying something virulently antisemitic sure is shocking—but given his penchant for sticking his foot in his mouth, maybe it’s not all that surprising. It’s still dangerous and it’s still vile even if, like the rapper’s longtime bestie Donald Trump, the media holds Ye to a lower standard of human decency. 

But this is so much bigger than the former Mr. Kardashian.