Journalist Don Lemon Essay

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Journalist Don Lemon offers some tips for African Americans so they can prevent racial discrimination in “CNN 's Don Lemon: Bill O 'Reilly 's Criticism of Black Community "Doesn 't Go Far Enough".” Lemon, gives five ways to fix problems like crime, poverty, and absent fathers in the African American community. Within the article, his use of supporting evidence was included, but he should have added more. Lemon’s overall claim is reasonable, but not every part of it is expressed appropriately. His overall claim consisted of poor word choices about absent fathers, a strong claim about using the n-word, and an unnecessary opinion. He discusses that people should not be having children before marriage. I agree that having a child is a great responsibility, but not everyone believes in marrying before having a child. “More than 72 percent of children in the African-American community are born out of wedlock. That means absent fathers. And the studies show that lack of a male role model is an express …show more content…

According to Lemon, African American should stop using the n-word especially if it does not pertain to the conversation. “By promoting the use of that word when it 's not germane to the conversation, have you ever considered that you may be just perpetuating the stereotype the master intended acting like a nigger?” This claim is strong because it causes the reader to think about how saying that word may really be feeding into the stereotype. Also, he includes a scenario that gives the reader an example of how the word is used so casually. “…on my way home when I exited the subway in 125th Street in Harlem. This little kid in a school uniform no older than seven years old, he was crying his eyes out as he walked down the sidewalk with his mother. I 'm going to be honest here, she turned to him, and she said ‘I 'm sick of you. You act like an old ass man, stop all that crying, nigger.’” This goes to show how the word is used often, but it is not used in its original