Don Lemon Was So Wrong

by Errington C. Thompson, MD

For some reason—I’m not sure why—CNN news anchor Don Lemon decided to hand out advice to the black community. Don Lemon is one of a handful of black journalists on CNN. He has been known to say some controversial things in the past. Some of these statements were self-expository, for which we might feel compassion or respect: During an on-air interview in 2010, Mr. Lemon revealed that he was a victim of sexual abuse as a child; in a 2011 memoir, he revealed that he was homosexual.

But beyond his personal issues, what would possess Don Lemon to want to hand out advice to the black community?

After all, more than a decade ago, Bill Cosby decided that he needed to point out some of the problems in the black community. Bill Cosby talked—reasonably enough—about black youth needing to study more and worry less about fashion. He also talked about the need for black youth to pull up their pants. He pointed out that black parents were spending more on sneakers than they did on education for their kids. And Bill Cosby’s comments went over like a lead balloon with many in the black community.

Now, before I go on, I think it’s important for me to point out that Bill Cosby had built up years of admiration in the black community. As those of us who are old enough can remember, there weren’t many black faces on prime-time television in the mid- to late-1960s—and Bill Cosby was a huge presence with the groundbreaking series I, Spy. In the early ’70s, Bill Cosby ruled Saturday morning cartoons with Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. Throughout the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, Bill Cosby put out hit album after hit comedy album. And who can forget The Cosby Show, which dominated primetime TV for just under a decade?

Adding to his public support and admiration, Bill Cosby has given millions of dollars to charity, including the NAACP and the United Negro College Fund. There’s even a building on the Spellman College campus with Bill Cosby’s wife’s name on it. Yet with all that credibility, Bill Cosby got roasted by the black community. So what chance does Don Lemon have?

Don Lemon stated, on the air, there are five things that black people need to do to fix their problem: “hiking up their pants, finishing school, not using the N-word, taking care of their communities, and not having children out of wedlock.”

The problems in the black community cannot be overcome by simply pulling up our pants and changing our language. The problems in the black community are complex, long-lasting, and have deep roots in American history and culture. But we do know some solutions that work.

In order to get out of spirit-crushing poverty, we have to have excellent public schools. In study after study, inner-city schools have declined significantly since the 1980s. Until we fix our schools, the black community will continue to be in trouble.

We simply must stop jailing everybody for minor infractions. Once you have a criminal record, it’s hard for you to get a good job: without good job opportunities, it becomes extremely difficult for you to change your circumstances. Minor infractions include driving while black, say with a broken taillight; walking while black, as in New York City, where any black male is subject to stop-and-frisk laws and charged with “resisting arrest” if he objects; and acting up in grade school (for which some black children have been arrested while their white peers were sent to the principal’s office).

And even though the federal sentencing commission reduced the disparity in jail time for crack cocaine—used primarily by blacks—and powder cocaine—used primarily by whites—from 100 times to only 18 times, a black man using crack cocaine is still subject to incarceration 18 times as long as a white person using the chemically identical powder.

Sadly, when there have been opportunities for African Americans to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps,” they don’t last long. The black community embraced public service in the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, when most public sector jobs had clearly defined requirements and had unions for protection. So blacks entered government jobs in large numbers—only to find that the music had stopped. From 1980 up until the present, government jobs have been under attack. It has been government jobs that have been cut and wages slashed. Benefits have been reduced. All of these external forces have combined to further squeeze the black community.

What I most object to is the fact that Don Lemon, a well-educated black man, has decided that all we, the black community, need to do is pull ourselves up by our bootstraps (or rather, our saggy pants). That’s what he is suggesting. But I ask, as others have done before, “How do you pull yourself up by your bootstraps when you have no boots? How is a thousand-yard dash an equal race when one group of runners has no running shoes—and has been crippled for generations by shackles on their ankles? How do you succeed in school when you are channeled into “slow” classes not because of your intelligence or character, but because of the color of your skin—or your accent, or your family’s poverty, or other factors beyond your control?”

Don Lemon’s cookie-cutter, overly simplistic answer completely misses the mark. The black community needs a comprehensive solution which must include better public schools/education, jobs that pay a living wage, and some way to reduce the high rate of incarceration of black men.