When Kanye West appeared in public wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt, outrage among the Black community soared.
People were shocked that West, a prominent African-American rapper, would put the catchphrase of the white supremacist agenda on his body during an appearance in Paris, France.
In response to West’s White Lives Matter stunt, conservative commentator Candace Owens, a mother and anti-Black Lives Matter pundit proclaimed that Black people should be more concerned with “Black on Black” crime rather than West wearing the controversial shirt.
Owens joined West at the Yeezy season 9 fashion show in Paris while both wore the White Lives Matter t-shirts to show their love for white culture and disdain for Blackness. Additionally, Black models, including the granddaughter of Jamaican music legend Bob Markley wore the controversial shirts while appearing on the Paris catwalk.
Since appearing at the fashion show with the controversial T-shirts, Owens and West have come under fire from prominent celebrities as well as members of the Black community. Fashion icon Gigi Hadid was among the people who blasted Owens and West for their racially controversial stunt. Many critics claimed that by wearing the controversial white lives matter shirts, Owens and West were proclaiming their approval of white supremacy and promoting a violent cause that aims to take Black lives.
On Tuesday, Owens spoke on her DailyWire+ podcast about how it is a “lie” that her wearing of the White Lives Matter slogan on the shirt distracted from the Black Lives Matter movement. She proclaimed that the online critics were “vicious” for targeting her and the conservative Black rapper for wearing the controversial shirts.
Owens proclaimed on her podcast that “Black on Black” crime and obesity were among the biggest killers in the Black community – not white supremacists who are intent on bringing back slavery and the imbalance of societal power that put Blacks beneath whites in terms of preference in the country.
In a statement that took aim at liberal singer Lizzo, Owens said: “We should have put a White Lives Matter T-shirt on Lizzo. Maybe we could have gotten a lot of attention about obesity and how it’s actually killing black Americans.”
During her podcast, Owens began her rant by saying: “Usually I begin every episode with a question of the day… The big one being, why did Candace Owens and Kanye West wear White Lives Matter T-shirts last night at his Yeezy season nine show here in Paris? A T-shirt that says White Lives Matter, which should be implied, right? White lives matter. Black Lives Matter. Asian Lives Matter. It should be implied. Yet people are angry, and they are being vicious online because they can’t believe that we have the audacity to detract from the [Black Lives Matter] movement, which is a lie.”
She added, “They tell those same Black people that they need to be outraged when a Planned Parenthood clinic shuts down… and yet a T-shirt is what got attention last night. ‘But that’s not the only thing that’s killing black America… We also know obesity is killing Black America. You know what we should have done?”