Don Lemon’ interview with actor Terry Crews about Crews’ objection to Black Lives Matter has gone viral. Not because it was informative or a robust debate, instead it was an example of journalistic malpractice for someone who is considered a news anchor. Roundly condemned in many circles, it is an example of blatant bias on Lemon’s part.
In the interview, Crews did more than point out black on black crime. He took note of the organization’s actual political goals. Lemon immediately cut him off and tried to compare the organization and its leaders to Martin Luther King Jr. Crews was eloquent in defense of his position about the radical nature of BLM and Lemon consistently cut him off.
What is astounding is this was not the first time Lemon has shut down an alternative view. When he interviewed Sheriff David Clarke in July 2016, he did the same thing. His behavior in that interview clearly demonstrates that Lemon’s gaslighting regarding BLM predates President Trump’s criticism of the organization.
Sherriff Clarke, like Crews, pointed out black on black crime. Clarke also called BLM a hate group. Don Lemon will have none of it. Lemon instead talked about BLM as a group that preaches love.
Clarke appeared on Lemon’s show in the wake of three officers being murdered and three more being wounded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This tragedy was part of a more significant trend of assassinations of police officers in the wake of the Ferguson riots and BLM’s rise to prominence.
Sheriff Clarke, a law enforcement professional, was continually interrupted by Lemon as he tried to talk about BLM, the risk to police officers, and the realities of police brutality. You can see most of the segment at the beginning of Sheriff Clarke’s video for Prager U.
Lemon’s consistent willingness to provide air cover for a group of self-described Marxists is rather astonishing. It is especially shocking when you look at rising levels of violence in our cities that directly affect the black community. Increasing violence that has made possible because BLM has intimidated local leaders and police agencies. An eight-year-old girl died in Atlanta because of BLM’s demands have pressured the mayor to “reimagine” policing. Her criticism of APD caused police to pull back, and the City Council is negotiating with terrorists who have taken over a Wendy’s parking lot.
An 11-year-old died in Washington, D.C., and his grandfather made a pointed observation. He said BLM and the media only care when a cop shoots a black person. They care very little about law-abiding citizens caught in neighborhood violence.
Believe it or not, when you name your organization a statement of fact, people expect you to care about everything under that umbrella. That includes the law-abiding citizens in black communities who rely on the police to protect them from violence. However, Lemon, like most of those in his elite leftist bubble is as oblivious and ignorant of this as the white woke idiots in the following video.
Ami Horowitz beautifully exposes the woke white savior complex in this video. These arrogant leftists think they actually know what the black community thinks, needs, or wants without ever inquiring. They swallow the narrative of people like Lemon whole. Even the man in the Black Lives Matter t-shirt does not want the police to be disbanded or defunded. Yet this is a core policy goal of BLM.
The BLM organization is explicitly collectivist and separatist. Lemon comparing them to Martin Luther King Jr.in his interview with Crews is some epic gaslighting. Instead, BLM craps all over King’s legacy by making race the defining factor of who people are and how they are treated. They demand segregation of people into social systems and institutions based on the color of their skin.
This goal is antithetical to the principles of equality under the law and judging individuals by the content of their character that King espoused. I suspect Lemon is fully aware of this distinction and makes the comparison anyway.
BLM bases its activism on critical theories of race and other grievance studies. As James Lindsey has continually pointed out, a small vocal minority that levies continual criticism against an institution can destroy the institution they target. The goal is to bring down the institutions of liberal democracy by relentless critiques based on feelings and emotion rather than data or facts.
BLM and their allies in the media, universities, Hollywood, and the Democrat party have targeted law enforcement. By gaslighting viewers and crushing dissenting opinions, Lemon is one of their biggest allies.
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