What Do Black Audiences Really Want From Don Lemon?
With his new book, the CNN anchor thinks he knows exactly how to reach them — by being who he’s always been
The first time I became aware of Don Lemon was on June 27, 2013, the day he agreed with Bill O’Reilly. Responding to remarks by President Obama about the recent murder of 17-year-old Travon Martin, O’Reilly had taken to his nightly show on Fox News, The O’Reilly Factor, to argue that the “disintegration of the African-American family” is due to “violence” and “chaos” in Black communities. A few days later, on a segment of his CNN show he called “No Talking Points,” Lemon decided to re-play the tape from O’Reilly, a rant that MSNBC’s Chris Hayes had described as “super racist.” Lemon not only agreed with the Fox News host but took it a step further. He said on air that O’Reilly didn’t go far enough, and proceeded to provide five points for Black people to fix ourselves: 1. Pull up our pants. 2. Stop using the N-word. 3. Respect where you live and pick up your trash. 4. Finish school 5. Implement proper family planning.
The call to attention felt like a redux of Bill Cosby’s 2004 “Pound Cake” speech, which Adam Serwer has described as “excoriating the black poor for failing to live up to the promise of the civil rights movement.” But Lemon’s words hit…
