Kanye West has come under firing for calling for the abolition of the 13th Amendment via Twitter. West has emerged as one of President Donald Trump’s strongest supporters, something that has already drawn him flak. His comments on race and slavery in recent months have stirred the pot, but the most recent tweet might become the biggest lightening rod yet:
this represents good and America becoming whole again. We will no longer outsource to other countries. We build factories here in America and create jobs. We will provide jobs for all who are free from prisons as we abolish the 13th amendment. Message sent with love pic.twitter.com/a15WqI8zgu
— ye (@kanyewest) September 30, 2018
Should America abolish the 13th Amendment, which ended slavery? West, or “Ye” as he is currently going by, has since come out to clarify his statement. Apparently, West meant that the 13th Amendment should be amended. The 13th Amendment states: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
Apparently, West’s real grip is the “except as punishment” bit. Following the backlash over his comments, West claimed that he was referring to the use of prisoners for labor and their low pay. West claimed that prisoners are paid only 8 cents a week.
West likely misunderstood prison pay as the 8 cents probably refers to hourly wage. That’s still an obviously abysmal number, but it’s substantially more than 8 cents per week. Across the United States, the average prisoner’s salary per hour is 14 cents for regular, non-industry jobs. Those who work for government businesses are paid an average of 33 cents per hour.
Owing to the low pay, West tweeted that the 13th amendment was “slavery in disguise.” Speaking to TMZ, West read a recomment from his friend GLC, noting that “in order to make a freed man a slave all you have to do is convict them of a crime.”
West is now calling for a reexamination and possibly an update of the United States Constitution. West has also been trying to arrange a meeting between President Trump and Colin Kaepernick to hopefully get them on “the same page.”