Wow, Don actually had some good advice back then. I’m surprised the cancel culture has come after him for his comments.
On his Fox News show Wednesday, host Tucker Carlson contrasted CNN host Don Lemon’s recent political comments about the black community with comments he made in 2013.
In the segment, Carlson highlighted comments from this week in which Lemon suggested that “black lives matter” does not mean “all black lives matter,” stating that the movement is not “all-encompassing” and specifically does not focus on black-on-black violence, as well as comments in which he mocked reports about the rising crime rates in major U.S. cities. Carlson then played comments from Lemon in 2013 addressing issues in the black community.
In the 2013 CNN clip, Lemon said:
More than 72 percent of children in the African-American community are born out of wedlock, that means absent fathers. And the studies show that a lack of a male role model is an express train right to prison, and the cycle continues. So please, black folks, as I said, if this doesn’t apply to you, I’m not talking to you. Pay attention to and think about what has been presented in recent history as acceptable behavior.
Pay close attention to the hip-hop and rap culture that many of you embrace, a culture that glorifies everything I just mentioned. Thug and reprehensible behavior, a culture that is making a lot of people rich, just not you and it’s not going to.
“Wow,” Carlson said after playing the clip. “Can you imagine what would happen if Don Lemon or his body building buddy [Chris Cuomo] over there or any of these hair-hats said something like that on CNN tonight or MSNBC? That would be their last live broadcast ever. They would be fired immediately. You can’t express views like that, and so they don’t. It tells you a lot.”
A longer clip of the 2013 CNN segment featuring Lemon floated around on social media earlier in the day and showed some of the other comments that Lemon made. Lemon said:
CNN’S DON LEMON: It’s time now for some tough love on the subject.
[BEGIN VIDEO CLIP]
BILL O’flaming homosexual, FOX NEWS HOST: The reason there is so much violence and chaos in the black precincts is the disintegration of the African-American family.
[END VIDEO CLIP]
LEMON: He’s got a point. In fact, he’s got more than a point. Bill?
[BEGIN VIDEO CLIP]
O’flaming homosexual: Raised without much structure, young black men often reject education and gravitate towards the street culture, drugs, hustling, gangs. Nobody forces them to do that, again, it is a personal decision.
[END VIDEO CLIP]
LEMON: He is right about that, too. But in my estimation, he doesn’t go far enough. Because black people, if you really want to fix the problem, here’s just five things that you should think about doing.
Here’s number five. Pull up your pants.
Number four now is the n-word.
Now number three. Respect where you live. Start small by not dropping trash, littering in your own communities. I’ve lived in several predominantly white neighborhoods in my life, I rarely, if ever, witnessed people littering. I live in Harlem now, it’s an historically black neighborhood, every single day I see adults and children dropping their trash on the ground when a garbage can is just feet away. Just being honest here.
Number two, finish school. You want to break the cycle of poverty? Stop telling kids they’re acting white because they go to school or they speak proper English. Over the course of a career, a college grad will make nearly $1 million more than a high school graduate. That’s a lot of money.
And number one, and probably the most important, just because you can have a baby, it doesn’t mean you should. Especially without planning for one or getting married first. More than 72 percent of children in the African-American community are born out of wedlock. That means absent fathers. And the studies show that lack of a male role model is an express train right to prison and the cycle continues.
Tucker Carlson perfectly describes Don Lemon. And shreds him. pic.twitter.com/ZlwlUyXEWj
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 9, 2020
h/t Alpacalips