A clip of CNN’s Don Lemon from September 13 went viral on Tuesday where the recently demoted host got more than he bargained for when he welcomed royal commentator and global business consultant Hilary Fordwich in the aftermath of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. Fordwich agreed with Lemon that reparations could be useful, but that they should be paid to the descendants of Royal Navy sailors who died fighting the slave trade.
Lemon saw a disconnect between ordinary people and the cost of the monarchy and lamented the history of the British Empire and wondered if reparations might be a way to address that, “Well, this is coming when, you know, there's all of this wealth and you hear about it comes as England is facing rising cost of living, living crisis, and austerity, budget cuts, and so on. And then you have those who are asking for reparations for colonialism. And they're wondering, you know, $100 billion, $24 billion here and there, 500 million there. Some people want to be paid back and members of the public are wondering why are we suffering when you are, you know, you have all of this vast wealth? Those are legitimate concerns.”
Fordwich calmly, but brilliantly set about dismantling this talking point, “Well, I think you're right about reparations in terms of if people want it though, what they need to do is you always need to go back to the beginning of a supply chain. Where was the beginning of the supply chain? That was in Africa. And when that crossed the entire world when the slavery was taking place, which was the first nation in the world that abolished slave -- slavery. The first nation in the world to abolish it, it was started by William Wilberforce, was the British.”
One can only hope the makers of the film The Woman King were watching as Fordwich continued, “In Great Britain, they abolished slavery. Two thousand naval men died on the high seas trying to stop slavery. Why? Because the African kings were rounding up their own people. They had them on cages waiting in the beaches. No one was running into Africa to get them.”
If reparations are to be paid, Fordwhich suggested they be paid to the families of those who died in service to the Crown, “And I think you're totally right. If reparations need to be paid, we need to go right back to the beginning of that supply chain and say, who was rounding up their own people and having them handcuffing cages? Absolutely. That's where they should start. And maybe, I don't know the descendants of those families where they died at the -- in the high seas, trying to stop the slavery that those families should receive something too, I think at the same time.”
Lemon, unlike Ali Velshi, was left speechless throughout Fordwhich’s history lesson. At the end all he could offer up in response was, “It's an interesting discussion, Hilary. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. We'll continue to discuss in the future.”
Interesting indeed.
This segment was sponsored by LeafFilter.
Here is a transcript for the September 13 show:
CNN Don Lemon Tonight
9/13/2022
10:47 PM ET
LEMON: Well, this is coming when, you know, there's all of this wealth and you hear about it comes as England is facing rising cost of living, living crisis, and austerity, budget cuts, and so on. And then you have those who are asking for reparations for colonialism. And they're wondering, you know, $100 billion, $24 billion here and there, 500 million there. Some people want to be paid back and members of the public are wondering why are we suffering when you are, you know, you have all of this vast wealth? Those are legitimate concerns.
HILARY FORDWICH: Well, I think you're right about reparations in terms of if people want it though, what they need to do is you always need to go back to the beginning of a supply chain. Where was the beginning of the supply chain? That was in Africa. And when that crossed the entire world when the slavery was taking place, which was the first nation in the world that abolished slave -- slavery. The first nation in the world to abolish it, it was started by William Wilberforce, was the British. In Great Britain, they abolished slavery. Two thousand naval men died on the high seas trying to stop slavery. Why? Because the African kings were rounding up their own people. They had them on cages waiting in the beaches. No one was running into Africa to get them.
And I think you're totally right. If reparations need to be paid, we need to go right back to the beginning of that supply chain and say, who was rounding up their own people and having them handcuffing cages? Absolutely. That's where they should start. And maybe, I don't know the descendants of those families where they died at the -- in the high seas, trying to stop the slavery that those families should receive something too, I think at the same time.
LEMON: It's an interesting discussion, Hilary. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. We'll continue to discuss –
FORDWICH: Absolutely.
LEMON: --in the future.
