Don Lemon to Critics over ‘Thug’ Baby Video: ‘It Does Happen, You Can’t Deny It’

This week CNN’s Don Lemon brought attention to a disturbing video of a black toddler swearing and being encouraged to swear by adults in the room. Lemon clashed with Marc Lamont Hill over whether it was appropriate for police to release the video in the first place, and responded today in commentary for Black America Web to people who think the video’s release was inappropriate.

Lemon said, “No one I spoke to or heard from condones the adults’ behavior, but some have called police racist for making the video available to a wider audience.”

However, he argued that “thug culture is not exclusive to African-Americans,” and insisted to people who took issue with the video’s release, “It does happen, you can’t deny it, I know all of you have heard it.”

He noted that the baby in the video has been taken into protective custody, but “for many children in this country, the foster care system isn’t a good place to end up either.” He continued to express surprise that people are “denying that they hear that” kind of language in their communities.

Listen to the audio below:

[photo via screengrab]

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