On Tuesday night, Don Lemon tackled the issue of a controversial video depicting a black toddler swearing and flipping the bird, and he was actually being encouraged by adults to do this. At issue was the Omaha police putting out this video and saying it’s part of a “thug cycle,” which Marc Lamont Hill found irresponsible and objectionable, but Lemon and Mel Robbins thought it was to help make a well-intentioned point.
Hill argued it “sends the wrong message about young, black boys” to put out a video and statement like that with a “racial overtone.” Robbins and Lemon argued that “thug culture” is not exclusive to the African-American community, and Robbins said people shouldn’t let “politics and political correctness” get in the way of tackling a serious social issue.
Hill told them that they’re “absurd” if they think that the kind of behavior depicted in the video is a serious problem, and kept on the racial element of the story, crying, “The example’s always black, Don!” He added, “How can you say he’s going to be a thug? He’s this big!”
He said that this kind of thing will lead more people to judge young black boys as thugs, but Robbins argued it might actually do the opposite and Lemon again pointed out that trash-talking to children happens in white and Hispanic families too.