'We all know that slavery was not a choice,' the veteran singer says of the rapper's controversial comments, adding that everyone knows that his comment is 'just foolishness.'
- May 14, 2018
AceShowbiz - Stevie Wonder slammed Kanye West for calling slavery a "choice." The 67-year-old music icon spoke out about The "Life of Pablo" rapper in an interview following his show at a West Hollywood venue, and was keen to dismiss his comments.
"There's been a lot of talk about what was said by Kanye," he said, according to the Associated Press. "I want people to understand that the truth is the truth and a lie is a lie."
"We all know that slavery was not a choice," Wonder continued, comparing West's slavery comments to those who say the Holocaust was not real. "I just think that people need to understand that if you know your history, if you know the truth, you know that's just foolishness."
West made the comments during an interview on TMZ Live earlier this month, sparking outrage on social media. "People were taught how to think, we're taught how to feel. We don't know how to think for ourselves, (and) we don't know how to feel for ourselves," he said. "People say 'Feel free,' but they don't really want us to feel free. I felt a freedom, first of all, doing something that everybody tells you not to do."
"You hear about slavery for 400 years. For 400 years?! That sounds like a choice," West added. “You were there for 400 years and it was all of y'all? It's like we're meant to be in prison. I like the word 'prison' because slavery goes too direct to the idea of blacks... Prison is something that unites us as one race."
