{"id":658060,"date":"2026-08-26T12:29:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T12:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=658060"},"modified":"2026-08-26T12:29:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T12:29:50","slug":"don-lemon-finds-racism-in-garys-decline-mayor-happily-agrees-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=658060","title":{"rendered":"Don Lemon finds racism in Gary\u2019s decline \u2014 mayor happily agrees"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Black leadership in a predominantly black community was no obstacle for Don Lemon in getting a mayor to pull the race card and sing a new song alleging neglect from the government.<\/p>\n

For more than two weeks, Indianans have been dealing with cleanup efforts following a devastating storm. This includes many in Gary, where Mayor Eddie Melton (D) shifted from assuring his constituents weren\u2019t \u201cleft behind\u201d to telling Lemon he \u201c100%\u201d believes \u201ccommunities of color\u201d are left to suffer after tragedies.<\/p>\n

During an interview on the former CNN personality\u2019s podcast, Lemon asserted \u201cneglect\u201d as he sought agreement from the mayor: \u201cThis is, to me, it feels like neglect. Do you think that some of that neglect came from, comes from or is happening \u2014 if you feel that way \u2014 it may be in part because Gary is a black, working class city?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne hundred percent, I believe a couple things are at play here,\u201d said Melton, who went on to argue \u201ctypically communities of color are left behind during tragic events like this,\u201d while failing to emphasize that initial delays in recovery were a result of NIPSCO energy company employees getting shot at while working on the power outage.<\/p>\n

\n

Gary, Indiana, mayor says his city is \u201c100%\u201d being neglected because it\u2019s a predominantly black city after going 13 days without power.<\/p>\n

The electric company, NIPSCO, says they were forced to pause work after their crew was shot at while they were helping restore power.<\/p>\n

NIPSCO\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/HeyGB70Rea<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve paused work out there until the city and company get a plan in place [for our safety],\u201d USW Local 12775 President Ryan Baker told<\/a> the Chicago Post-Tribune in the wake of the August 14 incident.\u00a0\u201cOur men and women are busting their a** 24\/7 to get the power back on for 300,000 people spread over three counties, so it\u2019s unfortunate and shouldn\u2019t have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Likewise, Melton himself had acknowledged the impact violence had on restoration efforts as some 10 days earlier he\u2019d requested assistance from the Indiana State Police. \u201cLet me be clear: This type of violence is absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the City of Gary. These crews are here for one reason \u2014 to help our residents and restore electricity to families who have already endured days without power.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite that, he still\u00a0insisted on touting \u201crecord low-crime rates\u201d and claimed the shooting was \u201can isolated act of violence\u201d before saying at a press conference days later,\u00a0\u201cI want to be clear, Gary has not been left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

This stood in stark contrast to his assertion on \u201ccommunities of color\u201d after tragedies.<\/p>\n

\n

And the community will eat up the second message for zero accountability<\/p>\n

\u2014 TonyG (@TonyGPaPa) August 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While Lemon pushed a racial narrative on the city just outside Chicago, Illinois, social media users were more than happy to highlight the rosters of both NIPSCO\u2019s parent company and the city\u2019s common council and the glaring lack of diversity that readily called into question suggestions of neglect based on race.<\/p>\n

As one social media user succinctly put it, \u201cWTF! All the people that are responsible are black. They form the backbone of the council and power company. They run the city. This isn\u2019t a white person thing, it\u2019s an incompetence thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Nailed it.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Brad and Water (@BradOwe84616776) August 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Neglected you say? pic.twitter.com\/JGlxYyuv6v<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Constantine (@_sleepybrowns) August 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

The electric utility in Gary is NIPSCO which has a black CEO, a black Chief Operating Officer and black Group President of Utilities. Clearly the problem is White people. pic.twitter.com\/0JVMfCTxc5<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Arthur Sido (@DelargeExtra) August 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

The team presently responsible for Gary, Indiana pic.twitter.com\/2Jn8Rbbf2y<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 DoctorBrydon (@CesareBorgiaRed) August 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

What does #donlemon<\/a> Think about the people of North Carolina who went months without power while the Democrat run FEMA was diverting their aid to house and provide for illegal aliens?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Larry Sims (@StoolSampl) August 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Fact check time:<\/p>\n

The Gary Common Council has been entirely controlled by the Democratic Party with no Republican members elected since 1980.<\/p>\n

Every Mayor of Gary, Indiana has been a Democrat since 1943.<\/p>\n

Lake County (Gary\u2019s in that county) has given pluralities or majorities to\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 20th Century Boxing: Icons, Memories & More (@20thCentBoxIMM) August 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Make it about race to cover for generational bad decisions.
\nLowest form of political fighting.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ray Maddalone (@GlowplugvRay) August 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Black leadership in a predominantly black community was no obstacle for Don Lemon in getting a mayor to pull the race card and sing a new song alleging neglect from the government. For more than two weeks, Indianans have been dealing with cleanup efforts following a devastating storm. This includes many in Gary, where Mayor… Continue reading Don Lemon finds racism in Gary\u2019s decline \u2014 mayor happily agrees<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":658043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-658060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economic-empowerment","category-national-security","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=658060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/658043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=658060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=658060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=658060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}