Throughout his career, rapper Kanye West has been portrayed many different things in the media depending on his public appearance and the subject matter of his music. The message he tells in his music is constantly evolving and often presents different ideals or positions on issues that resonate among different parts of the African American community. Two of these examples come from very different periods of Kanye's career and show two opposing opinions on how to deal with arguably the most important social issue in American history. This shift in the way Kanye addresses racism reflects two different schools of thought within the African American community. Although early in Kanye's career his music identified issues of racial inequality in society, he has recently gone beyond simply identifying issues and has repeatedly stated through his music that he would stand up and fight back when he was unfairly mistreated. Kanye West began his career in 2004 with his first studio album, College Dropout. One of Kanye's most revered albums, College Dropout presents the ideals of a young African-American artist beginning to realize and express all the racism and racial inequality that has hindered his life chances and those of those who surround it. Kanye is using College Dropout to highlight these issues and connect with countless people across America and the world. Of the countless songs on College Dropout that are great examples of this, one of the best is “Jesus Walks.” Kanye says: “Getting choked by the detectives: yeah, yeah, now check the method. They ask us questions, harass us and stop us by saying 'we eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast' Huh? Are you all eating pieces of shit? What is... middle of paper ... quality by any means necessary. (x) Although Kanye never says it explicitly, it's clear that this theme forms much of the thinking behind his most recent music and, just as his earlier ideals have resonated with much of the African American community, so do its newly adopted ideals. Through his growth as an artist and as a person, Kanye's stance on how to deal with racism in America has evolved from an attitude of nonviolence similar to that of Martin Luther King Jr. to one of of freedom at all costs similar to that of Malcolm. X. Whether these are these two or one of the messages and ideals mentioned in Kanye's music, these are generally ideals supported by a large part of the African-American population. His two messages on how to combat racism, while opposing, are not different and both resonate strongly with different parts of the African American community..