Kanye West is drawing criticism after wearing a jacket with the Confederate flag on the sleeve Saturday. Several pieces of merchandise for the rapper’s Yeezus tour also feature the controversial symbol.
According to the Daily Mail, West was photographed in the flag after a private boxing lesson. Historically, this Confederate emblem represented racism and hate.
The flag appears on several t-shirts in West’s temporary Los Angeles merchandise store. One shirt shows the flag behind a skull with the words “I ain’t comin’ down.” In another, the flag is draped over a grim reaper like skeleton.
West, whose father was a Black Panther, responded to the criticism in an interview with Los Angeles radio station 97.1 AMP.
“React how you want. Any energy is good energy. You know the Confederate flag represented slavery in a way — that’s my abstract take on what I know about it,” West said on Monday. “So I made the song ‘New Slaves.’ So I took the Confederate flag and made it my flag. It’s my flag. Now what are you going to do?”
Image: WikiMedia Commons
