Don Lemon Asks: Is "Thug" a Racist Term? (@donlemon)

CNN’s Don Lemon recently addressed the term “thug” and asked whether or not it’s inherently racist. The question was raised after the toddler “thug” video had gone viral, taking the internet by storm. According to Mediaite, Lemon described how “personal” this story has become from him since he was first alerted to it earlier this week.

Lemon notes that the term “thug” had been “co-opted” by the hip hop community in recent years and has been used by nearly every culture over the last hundred years. Lemon went on to show a video montage of that included everything from Tyler Perry’s Madea to Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing.

Lemon also believed that the police officers’ motives were “racist,” Lemon said, “why not take the outrage you have behind that to actually use the energy for good to actually stop a detrimental cycle of any name?” He concluded, “If you don’t want to be treated like a thug or be considered one, then don’t act like one.”

Watch Don Lemon address the term “thug” in the video above.

Do you think the term “thug” is racist? Share your thoughts below.

Source: Mediaite