CNN host Don Lemon spoke out on Wednesday to recommend that white people read his new book “This Is the Fire: What I Say to My Friends About Racism” so that they can learn about “accountability and grace” after Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd the day before.
Lemon said this while he responded to Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis having an image saying “I CAN BREATHE 4-20-21” tweeted out from the team’s official account. The tweet was in reference to Chauvin’s guilty verdict, and though it received some backlash online for being offensive, Lemon said it did not offend him.
“I think we need to give each other a little room to breathe and to be able to have these conversations. And so, if you have an issue with the owner saying that, take it up with the owner. Let the owner talk about it. Help him to understand that it may be offensive to some people,” Lemon said, defending Davis. “But I don’t want to castigate someone for at least trying to do the right thing, even if it may be done in ignorance. I don’t think it was harmful in any way.”
Lemon was then asked by his fellow host John Berman if he “can recommend to white people if they’re looking for ways” to talk about sensitive topics like the death of Floyd.
“Actually, I have two books to recommend,” Lemon replied, according to Mediaite. “I would recommend that everyone reads ‘The Fire Next Time’ by James Baldwin, which offers people grace, even when they mess up or you think that they did something wrong like the white owner of that team, and then I would recommend a book that comes after that by this author named Don Lemon who says this is the fire that we are in right now that also talks about accountability and grace at the same time.”
“So while we’re in this moment, where we’re saying there’s justice for now and there’s accountability, let’s focus on the positive and not nitpick something that may be taken out of context or may be offensive to some,” he added. “The overall picture is better than one minor alleged offense.”
Wow, full of yourself much, Don?
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