Don Lemon made another bid in his attempt to become the official contrarian of the Black community by charging that critics of New York City’s stop-and-frisk policy are putting political correctness above safety.
“[I]f you question many people in New York City, even some Black and Hispanic people,” Lemon claimed, “they will tell you that on the surface they don’t really have an issue with stop-question-and-frisk. Not the idea of it, at least. Not if the controversial policy was conducted like the occasional, random airport screening.”
Lemon said minorities want to believe that officers would stop someone and “politely” say, “Sir, I’m sorry, but I need to check your bag and your person.” But, he lamented, “They know that that’s not the reality of things on the street.”
“They know that in reality they will probably be ordered to put their hands up, spread their legs, or lay on the ground and be handcuffed while an officer or officers have their ways with them,” the CNN host said, “touching them wherever they’d like or handling them however they’d like.”
“So goes New York City, so goes the rest of the country,” he said of stop-and-frisk, adding a warning that if a new mayor “alters the equation of the formula that has reduced crime in New York City to its lowest in decades,” it could result in the “creeping back up” of crime rates, reduction in tourism, and the suffering of “international consequences.” He posited that other major cities could follow suit.
“Whatever the mayor here decides will be reflected in your city, reflected in your crime rate, and in your economy,” Lemon concluded. “So the question is: would you rather be politically correct, or safe and alive? That’s the real issue facing the citizens of New York and, pretty soon, ultimately you.”
Lemon, who in the past has attacked Black Americans for a variety of sins, including wearing sagging pants and throwing garbage on the street, provoked an uproar on Black Twitter with hilarious and insightful responses to his comments posted under the hashtag #DonLemonOn…
These are two favorites:
Don Lemon on Slavery: would you rather be free and unemployed or have a home and a job?
Don Lemon on voting: would you rather have 3/5ths of a say or none at all?
