Given how far left the media has shifted today, it is hard to believe that there is any way that a mainstream network, such as CNN, could ever be redeemed from its bias.
It turns out, however, that there was a time not so long ago when CNN, despite still having a liberal bias, did, in fact, do some honest journalism and reporting.
A video of Don Lemon from 2013 has recently emerged that shows that the network was not always as insufferably woke as it is now. In fact, in this video, Lemon sounds very much like a conservative.
In the segment, Lemon addressed the case of Trayvon Martin, a young black man in Florida who was shot by George Zimmerman, which set off a national firestorm about race and was, in many ways, the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Lemon spoke following the verdict that acquitted Zimmerman of murder. The first thing to note about this is the fact that Lemon said that we “all need to accept” the verdict. Imagine a leftist outlet saying that in a day of highly politicized trials, such as those of Kyle Rittenhouse and Derek Chauvin.
But Lemon went even further and called out the black community for actions and attitudes that led to tragedies like this. In fact, he begins by agreeing with Bill O’Reilly on Fox News that the disintegration of the black family is what leads to incidents like this.
Then, Lemon listed five ways that the black community can clean up its act in order to prevent incidents like this.
First, pull up your pants and stop sagging. Lemon claimed that this style originated in prison when inmates were denied the use of belts leading to pants hanging down. According to Menswear Style, this is in fact true, and when inmates were released, they continued to wear sagging pants, leading to a style trend of saggy pants.
Second, Lemon said that black people should stop using the “n-word” to describe each other. The continued use of it, he said, only “perpetuates the stereotype” that racist whites in the 19th and 20th centuries spread about black people.
Third, respect where you live. Pick up your trash and throw it away, don’t leave it lying around.
Fourth, stop glorifying high school dropouts and telling black kids that finishing school is a “white thing.” Indeed, Lemon is very right to say that college graduates are more likely to escape poverty and make more money.
Finally, stop having babies out of wedlock, as out-of-wedlock births lead directly to prison. Indeed, according to Marripedia, the lack of a father figure leads to problems with behavior, having a weaker sense of right and wrong, and poor impulse control, which does lead to children getting in trouble.
It is indeed interesting to see that there was a time when CNN, while still liberal, was still concerned with telling the truth and actually solving the problem, rather than perpetuating racial division. Many have reacted to this clip by wondering what happened and how wokeness destroyed CNN.
Lol wow where did this Don go?
— St. Charlie ⚜️ (@FrenchmenPod) February 19, 2023
It didn’t take wokeism long to ruin everything did it?
— MidniteLite (@ValerieShiffle2) February 19, 2023
One Twitter user wrote, “If @donlemon spoke like this on @cnn, giving facts and being real, I’d tune in every day.”
If @donlemon spoke like this on @CNN, giving facts and being real, I’d tune in every day
— Jinx (@MinxyXJinxy) February 20, 2023
Unfortunately, it is unlikely that this will ever happen, and it cause you to wonder, if Lemon spoke like that on CNN today, would he be fired?
Imagine, though, if the media did indeed have the same honesty about these important issues that Don Lemon had in 2013. We would probably not have many of the problems we have today, and certainly, the political polarization would not be so dire.
But that does not seem to be happening any time soon. I guess we can only dream.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
