I looked at this as Kanye being willing to laugh at himself. I think those elements exist on his first album, in the Dilated Peoples "this way" video, and some others that i'm forgetting. This was one of the reasons I was compelled to like kanyes records. Not a lot of self-deprecation in hip-hop (tribe, de la, etc.).
Of course, I'm white. and, a couple other things are true:
1) I enjoy self-deprecation more than "swagger." I make fun of myself every day; I prefer comedians who do the same; and I have trouble relating to people when they're unable to laugh at themselves. strangely, I've been a fan of rap music for 25+ years, so I must be ok with arrogance within the realm of MCing/DJing.
2) I have no idea if black self-deprecation is a bad thing. I don't think it is ... but, since so many insecure whites are in charge, it may send the wrong message. In that case, I understand kanye's evolution. I'm not sure the backpack kanye would have said "george bush doesn't care about black people" in 05, and i'm pretty sure the world needed him to say that.
anyway, I probably just said nothing ... so sorry if you read it.