Van Jones, a news and political journalist, apologized on behalf of the Black community for their “quiet” in response to musician Kanye West’s recent comments. He apologized during a United Jewish Appeal Federation of New York event. Members of the Black community reacted angrily to the apology, claiming that Jones is not their “spokesperson” and that they have been actively condemning Ye’s bigotry. Isa Watson, a tech entrepreneur, and novelist voiced her viewpoint on Twitter.
She stated:
“Van has no clue what he’s talking about, and he’s not a representative for the Black community. A lot of us speak out against antisemitism, and a lot of us publically opposed what Kanye was saying. Throwing us under the bus when it’s opportunistically expedient for him is a travesty.”
Internet users are outraged by Van Jones’ apology on behalf of the black community.
Anthony Kapel “Van” Jones apologized on behalf of the African-American community for their “silence” after rapper Kanye West’s anti-Semitic comments in a keynote address at the United Jewish Appeal Federation of New York. In recent weeks, Ye expressed his views in an interview with Alex Jones, claiming he idolized Hitler and admired Nazis. This occurred after a slew of anti-Semitic tweets, including one in which he expressed his desire to perform “Death Con 3 on Jewish people.”
Van Jones’ apology was not well received by many who believed that his statements were not genuine and that he placed his community “under the bus” by suggesting that they had remained quiet on the problem. Many people have spoken out against Kanye’s remarks and shown their support for Jews. Several Jewish individuals have also rushed to Twitter to confirm that the Black community had stood behind them long before Ye’s 2022 remarks.
Van Jones apologized to the Jewish community for the “silence” of Black people regarding comments by Kanye West.
No one from the Jewish community has apologized to Black people for the silence of Jewish people regarding the systemic murder and oppression of Black people.
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) December 7, 2022
While I would never call myself the spokesperson for Black people, I like to think of myself as the spokesperson for Black people who do not consider Van Jones to be the spokesperson for Black people
— Michael Harriot (@michaelharriot) December 8, 2022
More on Van Jones’ keynote address may be found here.
In regard to artist Kanye West, Anthony Kapel Jones spoke to the United Jewish Appeal Federation of New York and apologized to the Jewish community by claiming that the rest of the Black community stood mute while hatred was spewed against them.
He said in his speech:
“I apologize for my community’s silence in enabling an African American icon to praise Hitler and Nazis, and we behave as if we don’t know where that hate comes from.”
“The stillness is ended,” he said at the end of the preceding sentence. Van Jones went on to add that as long as communities turn against one another, the “terrible” feeling would linger, thus we must band together to feel “great and achieve wonderful things.” He also spoke on the bond that exists between the Jewish and Black communities, a feeling that has aided the country’s democracy.