I admit that I am absolutely unfamiliar with the music of Kanye West. But I also suspect that Mr. West is unaware of how his latest comments on slavery actually echo the interpretations of slavery that permeate Jewish classical texts.

When the people, later to be called Jews, were originally slaves in the land of Egypt, they were known as Hebrews and were considered the property of Egypt. After their release from bondage, they became Israelites. After three months of traveling toward the Promised Land, they received the Decalogue and it is here that they are introduced to "the fundamental and astounding idea" of freedom. As Rabbi Ben Zion Spitz, Chief Rabbi of Uruguay explains

God introduces to the world an entirely different concept of 'slavery.' It is a temporary condition. A Jewish man, out of luck and resources (typically because he stole something and then couldn’t repay), becomes an indentured servant for six years. He must be treated well and cared for. He must have a quality of life equal to that of his master. However, if he becomes comfortable with his servitude and his master, he can request to stay on longer. The Torah [Bible] prescribes that in such a case the master takes this slave to the doorpost and pierces the slave’s ear by the doorpost, marking him, branding him as a slave until the Jubilee year, when all slaves are freed, all men of Israel reclaim their ancestral lands.

This ear piercing is meant to signify that even though the newly freed people heard the First Statement (often called the First Commandment), they simply refused to listen to its incredibly revolutionary message. G-d freed them but they must be exquisitely careful not to become enslaved again and they must never make slaves of others. Thus, the piercing indicated that they refused to acknowledge that "man is meant to live free and not be the slave of any other human being."

This, of course, was what Kanye West was alluding to as he tried to explain how the Democratic Party with false promises has defined and confined far too many blacks. One need only look to the Democratic enclaves where African-Americans are deliberately held back from their true potential. The Democratic party can only exist when they keep using people as victims. When people stand up against the machine, they are a threat to the Democratic leaders. Thus, black conservatives -- the latest being Diamond and Silk, are punished for questioning and thinking. In fact, how many Americans are aware that:

Democrats voted to keep African-Americans in slavery, opposing the 13th Amendment which officially freed the slaves. Only four Democrats voted for it.

Republicans also passed the 14th Amendment which granted slaves U.S. citizenship; Democrats voted against it.

Republicans also passed the 15th Amendment which gave slaves the right to vote. Not a single one of the 56 Democrats in Congress voted for it.

Furthermore, Republicans passed all of the Civil Rights laws of the 1860s -- including the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Reconstruction Act of 1867 following the Civil War.

The Republican Party itself was founded as the 'anti-slavery party' in 1854. The party subsequently gave us President Abraham Lincoln and ultimately, the Emancipation Proclamation which led to the liberation of slaves.

In the 1960s, with the exception of Democrat President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was instrumental in the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act in the wake of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the truth is that Democrats were the largest single blockade to civil rights.

The Democratic Party was responsible for passing Jim Crow laws, in addition to Black Civil Codes that forced Americans to utilize separate drinking fountains, swimming pools, and other facilities in the 20th century.

Wayne Perryman expounds on the racism inherent in the Democratic Party when he explains that "[t]he chronicles of history show that during the past 160 years the Democratic Party legislated Jim Crow laws, Black Codes and a multitude of other laws at the state and federal level to deny African Americans their rights as citizens," while "[h]istory reveals that the Republican Party was formed in 1854 to abolish slavery and challenge other racist legislative acts initiated by the Democratic Party.

Then there is former NFL player Burgess Owens in this YouTube discussing whether black Democrats are truly supporting the African-American communities they represent. Owens asserts that the Democratic party is the "party of slavery, segregation, secession, and socialism" all of which are "killing hopes and dreams."

Economist Thomas Sowell underscores how Democrats maintain lower expectations for black students which ultimately hurt them. The lasting damage of the Left’s ‘favors’ to Blacks is truly unconscionable.

In her 2012 book titled Blacklash, author Deneen Borelli writes how she meets "young black Americans who were afraid to speak out because they come from a long line of left-leaning family and community members. They feel they are supposed to be Democrats, but they are black, conservative, and ready for change." Borelli emphasized that she didn't "care that Barack Obama is black he is still hurting this nation, and someone has to stand up to that." She doesn't "like the way some of the old-school black leaders have created and perpetuated a message of victimization among their black constituents."

We don't need to live on the government plantation. We don't need government handouts -- in fact they're bad for us. There is nothing free about free money. Handouts engender dependency. They create and entrench poverty, not fix it. It doesn't matter if you are black or white [.]

In fact, "[w]hen Democrats are in control, cities tend to go soft on crime, reward cronies with public funds, establish hostile business environments, heavily tax the most productive citizens and set up fat pensions for their union friends. Simply put, theirs is a Blue State blueprint for disaster." Consequently, some of America's finest cities have been brought to ruin because of Democrat rule.

Dressed up as "compassion and social justice" government programs only keep black people -- for that matter, any people in a downtrodden condition. It is time for the black community to remove that "ear-piercing" and shake off the modern-day shackles of slavery imposed by the leftist Democrats who are smooth talkers and false prophets. It will be truly liberating.

Eileen can be reached at middlemarch18@gmail.com