Kanye West Just Tweeted More Texts With John Legend & It's So Intense
Ever since Kanye West made his return to social media, Twitter has been a complete firestorm. The "All Falls Down" rapper, most notably, voiced his admiration of President Donald Trump, which has infuriated even the closest people to him — including John Legend. And now, John Legend's text to Kanye West about political parties is just too much to deal with.
On April 30, West posted a screenshot of a text thread between him and someone called "Steve," discussing the impact of President Abraham Lincoln and the history of the Republican party. Steve showed strong support for Lincoln, writing, "Republicans were the ones who's helped black people. Democrats protected the rights of the slave owners in the south." West, seemingly impressed, responded by saying, "I'm gonna tweet this."
But when he posted the shot to his Twitter, it apparently drew a lot of attention from friends who were quick to point out the inaccuracies. West followed up by posting more texts from John Legend, who told the rapper the info contained in the texts was incorrect. Legend pointed out that in the 150 years since the end of the Civil War a lot has changed politically, calling out Republicans for becoming "the party of the Confederacy" and arguing that the Republican Party has hardened its some of its previous stances and adopted entirely new ideas. He began, "Abraham Lincoln was indeed a Republican. They love bringing that up to deflect from the fact that now the Republicans have become the party of the Confederacy."
He continued laying out the facts, saying that after President Lyndon Johnson (a Democrat, if you need a refresher) signed the Civil Rights Act, the commander-in-chief predicted that he would lose "the South for a generation." And according to Legend, Johnson's prediction was right. He continued, "White Southerners eventually left the Democratic party because it became known as the party that fought for people of color."
Legend's response, though it's a lot to take in, shows that he was paying attention in history class. According to NPR, many white southerners, especially those who supported segregation, began switching sides after the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. And in even greater numbers after Barry Goldwater, the Republican presidential nominee that year, came out against the law, saying that it gave the government too much power, per Vox. As a result, black voters "almost unanimously" started switching over into the Democratic Party. And here we are today.
But this isn't the first time Legend has attempted to help his pal out on social media. On April 26, the "Ordinary People" singer sent a text to West (which the Adidas designer also posted on Twitter *sigh*) urging him to reconsider aligning himself with Trump. Just the day before, on April 25, the rapper took to Twitter to express his love for Trump, calling him his "brother" and flaunting his signed Make America Great Again hat in a series of tweets. The rant was seriously upsetting to some, including Legend. But instead of retracting his statement (or at least trying to clear it up) West brushed off the singer's plea.
On April 27, however, the two met up at Chrissy Teigen's baby shower and snapped a fun pic, which indicated they were still friends — despite their contrasting political opinions. West shared the image on his Twitter with the caption, "We got love. Agree to disagree."
Well, at this point, I'm agreeing to disagree, too. West is entitled to his opinions, as is Legend, and the rest of us. I just hope the next time he can get his facts straight for the sake of his credibility and social media.
