Don Lemon on Kanye West’s Comments on Slavery: ‘Stop Telling Us to Move On’

On the heels of Kanye West’s widely panned stance on slavery, CNN’s Don Lemon speaks out about how African Americans are the only ones who are told how they should recognize and celebrate their history.

In response to the TMZ interview where Kanye West said that slavery was a “choice,” CNN’s Don Lemon spoke on how African Americans need to stop being told how they should feel about slavery. Lemon supports his argument by bringing up the fact that Jewish people have a holiday commemorating a moment in their history when they were freed from slavery in ancient Egypt without anyone batting an eye.   

"It seems that African Americans, or black people, are the only people who are told how they should recognize and celebrate their history,” he said. “Jewish people aren’t told that. Every year, for Passover, Jewish people commemorate being free from ancient Egypt. No one says anything. As a matter of fact, I commend them for it.”

Lemon directed his argument to West’s “choice” theory by stating that “Kanye needs to realize it’s not a binary choice: You can remember your history, and you can also achieve. It doesn’t have to hold you there.” After Kanye’s comments drew understandable backlash, he attempted to clarify his remarks on Twitter by claiming that his statement had more to do with being “mentally enslaved."  Kanye got a similar public response when he praised conservative personality Candace Owens and posed in a Make America Great Again hat in April.

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