CNN anchor pissed off Black America with his endorsement of stop-and-frisk policies by law enforcement. |
On the Tom Joyner Radio show, CNN anchor Don Lemon delivers the Black perspective in America.
This week's edition of his Black perspective may have pissed off listeners. It may eventually cost him a place on the legendary radio host show.
CNN's Don Lemon is a very successful Black journalist. He is an openly gay news anchor who was a victim of rape when he was a child. He overcame his terrible ordeal to become a well respected journalist and talk show host.
His endorsement of the NYPD's controversial stop and frisk policy is a slap in the face to the hundreds of individuals being stopped without probable cause.
I am guessing that Lemon was discussing his take on the Barneys situation in which a 19-year old college student was stopped by undercover NYPD officers after he purchased a high end belt from the luxury department store.
Even media mogul Jay-Z was caught into this situation. Barneys endorsed his products and namesake last year and many agitators in the junk food media are calling for Jay-Z to renounce his support.
Jay-Z on his part told the media that even though he disagrees with the handling of the matter, why should he end a relationship with a company that helps him motivate young people become entrepreneurs?
He doesn't support stop-and-frisk, but should he just stop everything because of every incident in New York. He wants to help but boycotts and renouncing companies aren't helpful.
Somehow Lemon said that police were not always very respectful of the people they stopped, but that tampering with the "formula that has reduced crime in New York City" could be very dangerous.
Tom Joyner, a nationally syndicated radio host. |
Black, Latino or practicing Muslim are often profiled by law enforcement as "natural born criminals".
The NYPD faced criticism last month due to the incident in which a group of motorcyle riders attacked a man and his family after the man ran over a cyclist. Some of the riders were undercover agents. One even participated in brutally attacking the man.
Lemon's comments come in a long line of criticism of Black America.
He touched off a firestorm when endorsed Bill-O's rant about how Black leaders (President Barack Obama, Rev. Perm and Cut His Nuts Off Jackson) were "tone deaf" to Black on White crime.
Lemon believes that "US BLACK FOLK" ain't right. In his opinion, "US BLACK FOLK" are so fixated on Lil' Wayne and LaBron James. He believes that young minds are trying to be entertainers and athletes aren't the key to Black success. He believes that some Black people like Trayvon Martin's friend Rachel Jantel dialect is "too ghetto" and "not suitable for court".
Undercover police stop and frisk two Black individuals. |
Lemon's words comes as many Black conservatives and some Black liberals share their "teachable moments" in the gray area.
I don't agree with the statement of Lemon when it comes to the stop and frisk policy. I don't want to be profiled for being Black.
I believe that law enforcement profiling people of color is wrong. I understand that if I am in a bad neighborhood or associate with unlawful individuals, it invites itself to being profiled.
I agree law enforcement and the Black community are like distant cousins. We need to work on the relationship so that Black men don't always fear the sirens or the light. I don't want to be a resident of the iron college.
But in no way I want my freedoms violated by a law enforcement officer if he has no probable cause to do so.
Around 2008, Tom Joyner fired Tavis Smiley from the program after he was making too many criticism of then candidate Barack Obama. Smiley is one of the harshest critics of President Barack Obama from the left. He and Dr. Cornel West have openly attacked the president for not doing much for the Black community.
They unfortunately give Black Republicans like Herman Cain, David Webb, Allen West, Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), Jesse Lee Peterson, Alveda King, C.L. Bryant, and Deenen Borelli the hyperbolic talking points about President Barack Obama not caring about Black people.
These folks have missed the point over 32 years ago. Maybe they need to look back to the 1980s when supply side economics were passed in Congress and signed by The Gipper.
That was the beginning of the gap between rich and poor. Yeah, it may have been a great economy for some, but in the 1980s, the poor and needy became the drug abusers. The poor and needy fought for their share.
It sparked the global outbreak of AIDS. It created the crack/cocaine and heroin epidemic.
This continues today. It hasn't changed and it won't change until we get lawmakers who can relate to the Black community. Instead of electing Democrats and Republicans, how about we elected rational people who understand the plight of all Americans.
The Gipper (Ronald Reagan) created the mess and Barack Obama is trying to clean it up.