An assistant coach on the Vanderbilt football team is in hot water over a social media post supporting Kanye West, according to reports. Dan Jackson posted a message on Facebook in support of West amid the hip-hop mogul’s anti-Semitic rants the past several weeks, calling Ye “two steps ahead of everyone.” Jackson later apologized and coached in the team’s game against South Carolina, but athletics director Candice Lee in a statement Monday said Jackson will “step back” from his duties while an investigation continues.
“It is important the university follow its standard process and conduct a thorough review of the complexities of this incident,” Lee said in a statement. “Coach Jackson and I have agreed that he will step back from his responsibilities with the team during the Equal Opportunity and Access office’s review.”
In his Facebook comment supporting Ye, Jackson said, “more people need to wake up and speak their mind.”
“Kanye is two steps ahead of everyone. He’s not crazy. People try to silence him because he thinks for himself. People don’t want that. Rappers and athletes are taught they need to think the same as the media/politicians. If they have an opinion that is opposite the mainstream, they’re called crazy. More people need to wake up and speak their mind,” Jackson wrote on Facebook.
We are extremely concerned to see Vanderbilt University's Assistant Football Coach – Dan Jackson – defend Kanye West's antisemitism on a Facebook thread, stating people need to wake up.
Wake up to what exactly? Kanye's ongoing peddling that Jews control the world?! pic.twitter.com/473Dr6p8Ww
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) November 4, 2022
Calling Ye’s anti-Semitic rhetoric an opinion “opposite the mainstream” or saying the rap mogul “thinks for himself” is dangerous.
As a society we have devolved into a posture of anti-intellectualism, and certain political actors have used this to their own nefarious advantages.
In many instances the government and people in position of authority have misled the general public. Now those same people are pushing the idea of disputing actual facts simply because it is something they are opposed to.
Calling something you happen to agree with “enlightenment” or “free thinking” in contrast to works of academic scholarship is bad.
It’s OK to challenge certain ideas and to continuously study and learn, but we must all operate from a certain standard of accepted facts. The earth is round. Planes take off and land due to the laws of physics, etc.
Jackson did issue an apology before Lee announced his de facto suspension.
“I want to sincerely apologize for recent comments that I made on social media. While it was certainly not my intent to offend, my wording was careless. and it was in poor judgment to wade into such a discussion without the full context. My comments were in no way reflective of our program or university and I accept full responsibility for my words and will learn from this experience going forward.
“To be clear, antisemitism has no place in our society. and I reject all forms of hate. I’m embarrassed by my mistake but proud to work at a diverse institution where we can learn from each other’s cultures. I promise to be better moving forward for myself, our program and our institution.”
Even in his apology Jackson mentions it was “poor judgment to wade into such a discussion without full context.” What context is he referring to? His own understanding? Ye’s understanding?
Again, to be a functioning society there are certain things we must all adhere to. Hate speech of any kind is wrong. Period. There is no context or framework that should allow it.
