This opinion piece was published at theGrio, but for some reason, Yahoo News decided to pick it up and reprint it for their audience.
We just reported on another plagiarism scandal at Harvard; following the resignation of Claudine Gay, whom Marc Lamont Hill said was an extraordinarily successful and gifted Black woman who had her professional competence questioned by "a bunch of mediocre White men."
There seems to be a problem with mediocre white men. Don Lemon, who now has a show on X, interviewed Elon Musk, whom Michael Harriot, author of "Black AF History: The Unwhitewashed Story of America," called yet another mediocre white man.
Harriot writes:
I told y’all.
When I initially submitted a December 2022 article titled “Elon Musk is dumb,” I understood why my colleagues at theGrio suggested an alternate headline. Even though I was not the first to suggest that Musk’s brilliance was very overrated, many people still believe that achieving wealth requires a higher form of intelligence. Still, as an African American who has also never invented anything or founded an automobile company, I firmly believe that Musk’s reputation as a transcendent genius was vastly overhyped.
Thank you, Don Lemon.
…
Thankfully, theGrio watched it so you don’t have to. The entire interview could’ve been titled “Elon Musk’s New Clothes,” seeing that the emperor of X was exposed as just another self-assured white boy echoing the same white nonsense espoused by Joe Rogan’s followers on white Twitter.
For as long as this editor has worked at Twitchy, there's been "black Twitter." You don't often hear about white Twitter, though. We thought it was just Twitter.
Elon Musk is a completely self-made entrepreneur and now the 2nd richest person in history but also, "mediocre" and "white" pic.twitter.com/okkesTCjGD
— Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) March 21, 2024
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Mediocre compared to the genius that is Don Lemon, for sure.
Just remember, he was their hero until he took their toy away.
— varifrank (@varifrank) March 21, 2024
They absolutely despise Musk.
— Andrea E (@AAC0519) March 21, 2024
SpaceX. Tesla. Neuralink. Pretty mediocre compared to a former CNN host.
"Mediocre white man" is better than "raging right-wing white supremacist" which is probably what they wanted to call him https://t.co/hgK4bzHmob
— Angus T. Kirk (@angusparvo) March 21, 2024
just watched the kara swisher / don lemon thing in which they argue elon would never have accomplished what he has were he not a white man. there are hundreds of millions of white men in the world. can you imagine if they all did shit like this? https://t.co/X2aH0AMsnd
— Mike Solana (@micsolana) March 21, 2024
If he's mediocre what the hell are we? 😬
— Jim Rose (@JimRoseAF) March 21, 2024
I’d say that Don Lemon at best is a mediocre black man.
— Nick Sayer (@nwsayer) March 21, 2024
He's still using X as the platform for his new show, even though X is owned by a mediocre white man.
Well, I sure as hell have never heard of Michael Harriot before. Likely never will again.
— Tyrone Slothrop🇮🇱 (@JLimebrook) March 21, 2024
This might not even break the top thousand of Harriot's worst takes.
— teenage knife fights (@chawkawfudawba1) March 21, 2024
Launched a rocket the same week ge helped a paralyzed man use a computer.
— Christoof (@ChrisS97250209) March 21, 2024
So building rocket ships and putting implants into people's brains is "mediocre white man" stuff?
— Bolt Vanderhuge (@GenghisKhet) March 21, 2024
If Musk is “mediocre” I shudder to think where that puts Lemon.
— Wallys Haircomb (@WallysHaircomb) March 21, 2024
I wish I was as mediocre as Elon.
— Andsuplexesforall (@Suplexesforall) March 21, 2024
“Racist writes article about his racism” wasn’t gonna get the clicks needed
— PuckLuckBitch🌸🇺🇸 (@puckluckbitch) March 21, 2024
If Musk is mediocre, what does Harriot think of the rest of us white men?
These attacks come from people who literally have no skills or accomplishments.
— Steve Carlson (@scarlson99) March 21, 2024
how long are we supposed to tolerate this sh1t?
— Robert L. Peters (not the real fake Joe Biden) (@BillySullivan7) March 21, 2024
Forever. This shit is what free speech is all about. He’s perfect fine making an ass of himself for the world to see & dismiss
— Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) March 21, 2024
Lemon and Musk talked about "a wide range of topics, from ketamine use to having breakfast with Donald Trump."
"In other words, stuff white people like," Harriot adds.
Why did someone of Lemon's stature even agree to an interview with Musk? Isn't Lemon the same guy who demanded "a free Tesla Cybertruck, a $5 million upfront payment on top of an $8 million salary, an equity stake in the multibillion-dollar company, and the right to approve any changes in X policy as it relates to news content"?
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