In light of the alarming racist rant by Oklahoma fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Rush Limbaugh suggested that if So Help Me God rapper Kanye West sang that same chant, it would "be a hit."
On Rush Limbaugh's The Rush Limbaugh Show, he insisted that "If this had been a song by Kim Kardashian's husband and they had sung this song at the Grammys, it'd be a hit. Can we agree with that?"
He continued after apparent opposition from his staff: "Well, I'm telling you this stuff gets awards and the people that sing it are portrayed as American royalty in terms of celebrity. You can't deny that."
The (New York) Daily News reported that Limbaugh made these comments yesterday, March 11, on his show in light of criticism MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski received for saying rappers like Waka Flocka Flame should hold some responsibility since his lyrics contain the use of the n-word. The rapper recently canceled a performance at the university in light of the SAE video.
"If you look at every single song, I guess you call these, that he's written, it's a bunch of garbage," she said on MSCNBC's Morning Joe of Flame's lyrics. "It's full of n-words, it's full of f-words. It's wrong. And he shouldn't be disgusted with them, he should be disgusted with himself."
Members of SAE were recorded on a bus chanting racist remarks regarding the lynching of African-American students.
The SAE national fraternity relayed a statement concerning the incident, via the Los Angeles Times: "This is absolutely not who we are. We apologize for the unacceptable and racist behavior of the individuals in the video, and we are disgusted that any member would act in such a way."
Many took to Twitter to blast comments made on the Morning Joe that tied the racist chant to rap lyrics. Under the hashtag #rapalbumsthatcausedslavery, Twitter users altered album titles to mock the notion of rap music being responsible for the racist chant.
Here are some examples:
Marc Lamont Hill: @marclamonthill wrote "Big Willie Lynch Style-Will Smith #rapalbumsthatcausedslavery"
Tyree Boyd-Pates: @TyreeBP wrote "The Miseducation of Harriet Tubman" #rapalbumsthatcausedslavery"
