CNN host Don Lemon revealed a new podcast that aims to teach people how to become anti-racist.
The network host argues in his new podcast, Silence is Not an Option, that it’s no longer acceptable for the public not to be racist but that they should learn how to be actively anti-racist.
“We live in a society where it’s no longer enough to simply not be racist—we must proactively choose to be antiracist. And that choice means showing up and doing the work, every single day,” a description of the first episode of the podcast reads.
“But racism isn’t all about white hoods and burning crosses — it’s a white woman walking her dog and unnecessarily calling the police on a Black man. By that I mean, it’s not the obvious racism that we already know is out there, it’s the next level that we’ve got to get to — our own unconscious, ingrained racism.”
On the first episode of the podcast, Lemon interviewed Ibram X. Kendi, author of the book How to Be an Antiracist and former professor at the University of Florida and American University, and American University professor Christopher Petrella. The group discussed the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, and efforts to defund or reform the police.
“How hard is it to unlearn a life’s worth of social conditioning and implicit bias. How do you do that?” Lemon asked his guests.
“It is a never-ending process. And I think, particularly, one of the sort of pillars of whiteness is a certain narcissism. It is a certain arrogance. And I think, speaking personally, it is something always in the space you have to guard against,” Petrella said.
“We have to be conscious of how we show up, how we’re supporting particularly people of color-led movements. None of this is possible, in my life, without the continued mentorship, specifically, of black people,” he later said.
Kendi agreed that either funding or assisting local organizations managed by minority groups who fight for racial change is a step toward becoming anti-racist. “Ultimately, this is about power and policy change. And we, every single one of us, need to be involved in that larger fight. We need to realize that there’s nothing wrong with black people,” Kendi said.
“I know that this issue, like this country, isn’t just black and white — we’re all impacted by this, and we all have work to do. Listening to this podcast won’t wash away your sins, and you won’t get a certificate at the end. You may still say the wrong thing — hell, I am sure at some point I’m gonna say the wrong thing — but silence is not an option,” Lemon wrote in a description of the podcast.
