ruthyless:

if you guys want an actual discussion on nicki’s new video, let it come from a jew (since no posts i’ve seen so far are from jews at all):

nazi imagery is traumatising, utterly traumatising. from anyone who’s grown up learning about how influential hitler became over such a large group of people, literally pushing them (although it didn’t take much pushing) to the ‘final solution’ aka the extermination of anyone perceived as ‘other’ (particularly jews, blacks, romanis and homosexuals), seeing those images used in pop culture is a blow to our feelings of safety, and of remembrance of the horrific acts committed by the nazi party. 

there’s no defense for using this type of imagery, it’s a lack of empathy for anyone who felt the effects of what the nazis did and many of us still do to this day. i will never be able to trace my ancestry, since all the record from my paternal side were entirely destroyed in the holocaust. my grandmother can never talk about her experiences without crying for days, and she’s one of the strongest people i know. 

this wasn’t a long lost historical event, either. it happened just over 60 years ago, with people (including my grandma) who experienced it still alive today. this is strongly felt in many communities of those targeted, though i can only speak for the jewish community. to this day we fear what could happen if the world was plunged into a third world war, because it’s completely possible what happened there could happen again. we feel the pain of the holocaust every single day, and seeing someone use the images so carelessly just compounds it. 

there’s no defending nicki’s use of these images. no justification. no legitimate reasoning other than shock value, and that is unacceptable. i loved nicki, but how she could do something without even thinking of the effects it might have is ridiculous and unacceptable.