Lebron James Gives 21 Savage and Jewish Money a Shout Out
Goddamnit. It’s time to have another teachable moment with not one, but two dumbasses who should have known better. First, we have rapper 21 Savage. If you don’t know who he is, don’t worry, no one did until just recently. But we’ll get to that in a minute.
So, 21 Savage, or someone on his team, thought it would be a great idea to include a lyric in the song “ASMR” that references “Jewish money” (for anyone unfamiliar, this is a stereotype of the Jewish people and used in extremely negative connotations). Now, this is where the second part of this story comes in.
NBA player LeBron James then decides to quote this song on Instagram and references the offending lyrics, seemingly without knowing the insulting implications.
Surprised LeBron, who makes very few mistakes, put this out. Does quoting lyrics from a song absolve the person quoting from the responsibility behind the words? I’d argue no, especially with a following of 45 million. pic.twitter.com/efv9gkXres
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 23, 2018
After some significant backlash online, both LeBron James and 21 Savage issued their regrets for the stereotypical language.
First, we have LeBron James’s apology:
“I actually thought it was a compliment, and obviously it wasn’t through the lens of a lot of people. My apologies. It definitely was not the intent, obviously, to hurt anybody.”
And here’s what 21 Savage tweeted just a few days later:
The Jewish people I know are very wise with there money so that’s why I said we been gettin Jewish money I never thought anyone would take offense I’m sorry if I offended everybody never my intention I love all people
— Saint Laurent Don (@21savage) December 25, 2018
Excuse me while I bang my head on my desk for a minute.
Okay, yeah, there doesn’t appear to be any malice involved here, just ignorance which isn’t great either. These stereotypes are pretty common knowledge in most of society. Someone should have flagged these lyrics before they were ever released to begin with.
All right, everyone, these are the rules going forward (and I can’t believe this still has to be said):
- For all you singers/songwriters out there, the next time you want to reference another racial or cultural background that’s not yours….you know what, just don’t. Don’t do it, okay? Unless you are highly, highly familiar with a particular group, chances are high that you’re going to screw it up, and that’s not doing you or that specific racial/cultural group any favors.
- For everyone else (and I’m looking at you, LeBron): THINK BEFORE YOU POST. Don’t reference anything unless you know what it means and the potential connotations.
Hopefully, this is is a lesson well-learned by both LeBron James and 21 Savage. Again, I don’t believe there was any malice from either of them, it’s just neither of them gave any thought to it. This is an instance of two famous people who are used to saying whatever pops into their heads at any given moment and aren’t accustomed to thinking about it first.