Over the last few days, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and rapper Azealia Banks participated in a particularly messy spat on social media. Here’s the breakdown.
Sometime before April 3, Azealia Banks apparently read a satirical news story that falsely credited Palin with observing, “I’m telling you, I’ve been saying it for years, but nobody’s listening – slavery wasn’t forced onto African-Americans, they accepted it willingly.”
Banks took to twitter and posted these ill-advised, eventually deleted, tweets.
Conservative media like Breitbart predictably pounced on Bank’s tweets and numbers articles sprouted accusing the rapper of calling for Palin to be gang raped by black men. After the story picked up steam, Plain took to Facebook and made this statement:
Later, in an interview with People magazine, Palin stated that she intended to sue Banks for her statement in order to “enjoy the retribution some protected ‘celebrities’ seem to understand.” Palin added, “Azealia engages in a form of racism and hate that is celebrated by some in the perverted arm of pop culture, but is condemned by those who know it’s tearing our country apart.” She also went on to say, “Others may keep turning a blind eye to problems like Azealia’s mouth; I choose to take a stand against it and the double standards that result in her actually being rewarded for her divisive tactics and aggressively inciting violence.”
Just as things were seemingly heating up, Banks posted this ‘apology’ on to Tumblr
While questions such whether Palin will actually sue Banks, or if she’ll accept Banks’ loaded apology remain open, I want to pose a few thoughts. Firstly, this entire situation is due to a colossal misunderstanding. Banks, like your Aunt on Facebook, simply read a trashy satirical news article and believed it. While Banks, should have done her research before posting (at 12:44am according to timestamps,) many people have been caught in similar situations. Banks, however, responded crudely with remarks that both reflect a questionable view of black male sexuality and allude to rape. I accept Banks’ argument that she wasn’t invoking rape, but if there is a line, she’s very close. If there’s a lesson here, it’s that you shouldn’t clap back with reckless disregard.
On Palin’s side, why bother? Banks is a 24 year old rapper who is still working to get her career off the ground. She’s a young woman, younger than Palin’s oldest daughter Bristol, and more than half the age of the 52 year old politician. And daily, more established and powerful people make horrible jokes about Palin, questioning everything from her intelligence to her family life. Why not go after the satirical news site that was spreading the lie instead of Banks?
Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail here and these two can get back to doing what each really wants: Help Donald Trump get elected president. Or they can keep fighting.
