As a result of his hate speech, Kanye West has lost more supporters, and now his honorary degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago has been revoked.
The institution has opted to sever connections with the controversial rapper-producer following his months-long rhetoric of hate speech by revoking the honorary doctorate it awarded him in 2015. This decision was made, according to Chicago’s ABC7 News on Thursday (Dec. 8).
SAIC authorities issued a statement in which they denounced Kanye West’s (now known as Ye) “anti-Black, antisemitic, racist, and harmful sentiments,” particularly those that were directed towards the Black and Jewish communities. We revoked Ye’s honorary degree because his behaviour did not fit with SAIC’s purpose and values.
Following the introduction of an online petition on change.org calling for the degree to be revoked, school officials took action.
According to the petition’s summary, Kanye West received an honorary doctorate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015. Regardless of his contributions before receiving this award, it is harmful to allow Ye, as he is currently known, to continue to use the School of the Art Institute of Chicago to help legitimise hatred and violence. “This award bestows the legitimacy and luster of the School on a figure who in recent months has made repeated public statements expressing and justifying anti-semitism.”
SIAC was not attended by Kanye West. Before quitting school to follow his dream of becoming a recording artist, he was enrolled at Chicago State University and the American Academy of Art. Since Ye started using anti-Semitic hate rhetoric and openly endorsing Adolf Hitler, several organisations have decided to stay clear of him, including the SAIC. Ye released a brand-new song titled “Someday We’ll All Be Free” last night (Dec. 7) on Alex Jones’s InfoWars website.