Don Lemon Comes Out As 'Openly Black'

Spoiler alert: Don Lemon is BLACK, y’all. Blackity, blackity, BLACK y’all.

Source: Charley Gallay / Getty

The CNN journalist had a hearty laugh this weekend after a Mediate op-ed went viral on social media for a line about his very obvious race. Don retweeted the story titled “Don Lemon’s Remarks About Trump Voters and The Klan and Nazis Are a Slap in the Face to 74 Million Americans.”

The story was in response to Don’s TRUTHFUL comments that Dorito devotees are on the same side as Nazis, Proud Boys, and alt-right supporters. Writer Tommy Christopher wrote, “Lemon — who is openly Black — responded by telling [Chris] Cuomo that ‘if you are on that side you need to think about the side you’re on.’”

Christopher’s piece was actually praising Don for his words on the ivory inserructionists who stormed the Capitol. The writer ultimately feels that the comments might have been a necessary “slap in the face.”

“Where is the lie?

Lemon’s assessment was factually correct, these people did vote for a man who is an overt racist, who had already sided with Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville and actually campaigned on his support for the Confederacy, and who had been sowing the seeds of the Capitol insurrection for months before the election.

But that’s not the most important question in determining whether Lemon should apologize. Something can be true and still be messed up to say.

That’s the reason I mentioned that Don Lemon is openly Black because that fact adds to the sting of an already painful statement — pain that was evident not just in the response from these two prominent Republicans, but also in Cuomo’s devil’s advocacy, and in his attempt the following night to separate Trump voters from the Capitol insurrectionists.”

[…]

A slap in the face stings, but it can wake you up.” 

The “openly Black” line went viral and in true Black Twitter style, jokes on jokes on JOKES ensued.

On Friday, Don decided to make light of the comment on-air while working alongside his buddy Chris Cuomo and the results were hilarious.

PURE COMEDY.

Writer Tommy Christopher has confirmed that the “openly Black” Don Lemon line was satirical.

“The first part of column was written in the satirical voice of someone criticizing Lemon for his remarks, only to later flip around in support of Lemon. And in that column, I referred to Mr. Lemon as “openly Black,” a joke that I’ve used many times before as a way to mock white reactionaries who treat other people’s immutable identities as though they were deliberate attempts to offend, and to cut through the thin subtexts they often use.”

Fair enough, sir.

It’s still funny and Black Twitter is always gonna get those jokes off. ALWAYS.