Last week, while watching CNN, I fell in love with mother England all over again, when one of its citizens refused to be bullied by Don Lemon (recently demoted by the network). Suffice it to note, he was one of the on-air talents CNN’s new CEO Chris Licht found “too partisan” to attract new viewers. He certainly bombed with the British on September 13.
4 billion people around the world, including 37.5 million Brits, watched Queen Elizabeth’s funeral on TV, which is far more than the funeral TV audiences for Ayatollah Khomeini, Fidel Castro, and even Nelson Mandela. In fact, the Queen’s funeral broke the previous record (2.5 billion) for the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. No surprise there, when global audiences lap up Disney films with diverse royals like Aurora, Jasmine, Moana, Mulan, Tiana, and Pocahontas.
The surprise came from malcontents on Twitter and TV, punching up at the Queen for the evil of colonialism and unfairness of royalty. Half the hearts in the world mourned, but some had to drag out old sins that coincide with the life of this praiseworthy monarch. Carnegie Mellon professor Uju Anya wished “an agonizingly painful death” for the queen on Twitter because of colonialism. CNN’s Don Lemon argued for reparations because of slavery. Both were rightly lambasted by decent folks.
In the almost 70 years of Elizabeth’s reign, 48 of 65 countries (almost all with non-white majorities) gained independence from the United Kingdom. She used her influence to bring an end to South African apartheid (source: NBC News). And, despite her shrinking empire, British GDP grew from £338 million to £2.2 trillion on her watch; including billions spent by foreign tourists – of every race and religion – drawn to the pomp and ceremony of Her Majesty.
That is the reality that Lemon ignored on September 13 in a CNN interview with “royal commentator” Hilary Fordwich. She’s British and was on-air to talk about the royal funeral; a human interest segment Lemon turned into a cheap shot upon her nation. He asked why the “vast wealth” of the royal family was not paying “reparations for colonialism” when “England is facing rising costs of living” and “some people want to be paid back.”
That is the typical CNN gotcha question that triggers anger or groveling in American guests, but the English are made of sterner stuff. Ms. Fordwich relied on the complete history of slavery to turn the tables on Lemon. She took his angle and ran with it: “I think you’re right about reparations. We need to go back to the beginning of that supply chain.”
“Where was the beginning of the supply chain? That was in Africa. In Great Britain, they abolished slavery. 2,000 naval men died on the high seas trying to stop slavery. Why? Because the African kings were rounding up their own people, had them in cages, waiting on beaches. And maybe the descendants of those that died in the high seas trying to stop the slavery, those families should receive something too, at the same time.”
Lemon said nothing, because Fordwich countered his narrative with the truth. White and black kings profited from slavery. Black and white lives were hurt because of slavery. And THAT is how they deal with on-air charlatans in Great Britain. Somewhere in this exchange on CNN (watch here) is a lesson for Republicans and moderate Democrats.