Before concluding, I would like to look back at some of the previous people I have discussed throughout the paper. I will begin with Kanye West, who is clearly arrogant, but not clearly beautifully arrogant. Kanye West is particularly reflective about his arrogance and recognizes its benefits—seemingly a good sign that he is beautifully arrogant. What is more difficult to tell, however, is whether or not his arrogance is properly localized. He has many songs where he disrespects his oppressors in a fairly arrogant fashion, but he also acts in ways that disrespect members of other oppressed groups of which he is not a member, namely, women.44
It seems, then, that his arrogance is actually global and not local. But there really is something beautiful about his arrogance when he is looking down on his oppressors, despite the moral offensiveness of it at others times. Perhaps the best way to explain this phenomenon is to understand his arrogance intersectionally: West’s arrogance qua black American is beautiful, but his arrogance qua man is vicious. While this helps to understand the descriptive claim that his arrogance is at times beautiful, it does not help with the normative claim whether or not his arrogance as a whole is still morally neutral, or if it is vicious to the point of obligating him to cultivate greater humility.
44 See, Brianna Provenzano, “Why Did Kanye West Put Rhianna Next To Her Abuser in His ‘Famous’ Music Video?”
The picture is further complicated when we remember how calling members of historically oppressed groups ‘arrogant’ can reinforce their oppression by denying their claims uptake. In calling Kanye West, or any other member of an oppressed group, ‘arrogant,’ we need to make sure we are not perpetuating a system that leaves many people oppressed. The point of giving an account of beautiful arrogance is to understand how our evaluations of attitudes can change in these contexts and offer new ways for those who are oppressed to resist, not furthering a damaging practice.
Where Kanye West is clearly arrogant, Wangari Muta Maathai is clearly not. Maathai
organized women to plant trees so as to empower them, create a just source of income, and improve environmental conditions in Kenya. She was called arrogant for challenging a plan to tear down a city park in order to build a skyscraper. Her response was that she was not arrogant, but they were the arrogant ones. I find Maathai’s response to be one of self-confidence and not beautiful
arrogance. She herself denies being arrogant, and her own character seems to reflect that. She is an egalitarian through and through, but one with confidence and proper pride to challenge her oppressors head on.
Finally, there’s Colin Kaepernick whose protest has inspired many and attempted to create a significant conversation around the way black lives are treated in America. Some have attempted to say that his arrogance is most clear on the football field and in press conferences.45 However, this seems to be the problem of inferring arrogance from confidence in oppressed people—something I alluded to at the end of section two.
While for symmetry’s sake it would be nice to show multiple examples of how these cases I began with are examples of beautiful arrogance, it appears that they are not. It may just be the case that beautiful arrogance is rare. Some readers may even find this to be refreshing, that few have this
45 Lowell Cohen finds Kaepernick’s attitude extremely arrogant, but the evidence he points to is how Kaepernick dresses after games and his inability to stand in one place during interviews—
interpreting this as a demeaning game he is playing with reporters (see, “A Humble Suggestion for 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick”).
kind of arrogance that is an exception to the typical viciousness of the attitude. But, ultimately, this fact may just say more about the barriers and pressures of oppression that face many living in the world today.
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