Chris Cuomo is facing backlash for comments he made during an exchange with Don Lemon.
During an recent episode of “CNN Tonight with Don Lemon,” Lemon started off the show singing the theme song of the ‘70s sitcom, “Good Times.” After crooning a few lyrics, he passed the baton to Cuomo, who, to his suprise, was able to finish the song.
Interested in knowing how Cuomo successfully completed the lyrics, Lemon asked, “How do you know the words to ‘Good Times?’” and the CNN host responded, “You know I’m Black on the inside.”
Cuomo’s comments didn’t sit well with Black people, who vented their frustrations on social media.
“It’s fucking offensive,” wrote journalist Aisha K. Staggers. “Black isn’t something you can just say you feel you are inside without having to deal with the racism that comes with being physically Black on the outside. This is cultural appropriation.”
Another user tweeted, “The only Black inside you is your privileged heart! Live and learn.”
“Chris Cuomo just said to Don Lemon OUT LOUD on Wolf Blitzer’s CNN, ‘You know I’m Black on the inside,’ and we had to turn off the television because I’m not here for that nonsense,” added a third person. “@CNN needs to have some sensitivity training with their on-air personalities.”
Cuomo — who got wind of the social media flak — later took to Twitter to address his remarks.
“Said with all respect to reality and our need to fight this amplification of color animus,” the talk show host penned in a tweet. “There is no understanding what it is to live as a Black person in America if you are white but it is so important to listen. The majority must change racism.”
A Twitter user subsequently declared, “Oh, Chris. Yikes. We are allies, we are not black,” and he agreed, adding his beliefs that the younger generation is “different.”
“Absolutely true. And too many are not,” said Cuomo. “I really do think my kids’ generation is different tho [sic]. They are not merely ‘woke’ or pc or language police, they really seem to date and hang, and choose as fam a real range of color, creed and identity.”