Chris Evans ‘Attacks’ Kanye West Over Slavery Tweet

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After appearing on Saturday Night Live wearing his ‘Make America Great Again’ cap, Kanye West has further entered the ring of politics, and continued his… interesting streak.

After performing on the show, the rapper went on one of his infamous, unscripted speeches, which seemed to be in support of Donald Trump and the Republicans, which elicited boos from the crowd and a stunned silence from many cast members.

Not long after, Kanye doubled down his efforts, tweeting a picture of himself from his private jet, still in the MAGA hat, with a caption which read:

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. [sic]

We will provide jobs for all who are free from prisons as we abolish the 13th amendment. Message sent with love [sic]

While he obviously feels strongly for his country, his message about the 13th amendment raised more than a few eyebrows.

The 13th amendment to the US constitution, passed on January 31, 1865, formally abolished slavery in the country.

It reads:

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.

So why does Kanye want to abolish this amendment? Well, as with a lot of his tweets, he wasn’t particularly clear about it. Some people thought it was in reference to people who are already in prison, while others wondered if he was doing it to build hype around his new album.

Either way, his later tweet, which was intended to clarify things, didn’t quite clarify things enough.

It read:

the 13th Amendment is slavery in disguise meaning it never ended We are the solution that heals [sic]

He then added:

not abolish but. let’s amend the 13th amendment We apply everyone’s opinions to our platform [sic]

While Kanye wants to make America great again, one person who might be able to help is Captain America himself, Chris Evans.

The actor has waded in on politics before, calling Trump a coward after his meeting with Putin, and now he’s taken it upon himself to school Kanye on a few things too.

Replying to the rapper’s tweet, Evans said:

There’s nothing more maddening than debating someone who doesn’t know history, doesn’t read books, and frames their myopia as virtue.

The level of unapologetic conjecture I’ve encountered lately isn’t just frustrating, it’s retrogressive, unprecedented and absolutely terrifying.

He then tweeted a quote from the writer Isaac Asimov, saying:

The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’

When you’re trying to ‘make America great again’, and Captain America himself has to step in and school you on the things you’re saying, it might be time to take his advice?

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Charlie Cocksedge

Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.