HOT TAKES! – The Black History Behind Birthright Citizenship!
Birthright citizenship isn’t just an immigration story, it’s a Black history story. Don traces the fight over the 14th Amendment back to the aftermath of slavery, the Dred Scott decision, Reconstruction, and the long history of efforts to roll back Black citizenship and civil rights. This is a powerful look at why understanding America’s past is essential to understanding what’s at stake today.
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The views and statements expressed by guests do not reflect the opinions of Don Lemon or The Don Lemon Show.
@eddykins-h7v
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Thank you, Don! This is critical education and hopefully all will listen and get it ! 💯❤
@Brenda-c9u5y
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
100% correct. Some people don’t want the truth e
EXPOSED sad but true.
@ReginaldWinfield-o3c
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Amen brother!!! Spitting nothing but the naked truth, thank you!👏🏿🙌🏿🖤✊🏿
@RandyWilson-x7q
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
TRUTH TELLING💯%💚😐
@pattirockgarden4423
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
So true! Pain & Joy. Thanks for the history lesson.
@Breadcrumbsidfk
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
As far as I can see it’s anyone of colour you’re out by different ways so it’s a cleansing again to make this the new neo if you will
@Breadcrumbsidfk
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I think we only have one thing that makes us American and it’s multiculturalism we have no other identity it’s not just black but a lot and personally yes mostly agreed but it’s a country of others that’s OUR THING so without that we have no claim of identity
@JaniceRidgeway-u1j
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
FBAs I find it strange that the immigrants, and the Democrats celebrated every immigrant's celebration, and immigrants even celebrated our Black History and Juneteenth in Africa when it is not Africa history but America history and we asked them not to do it. Now those same immigrants and Black folks in the Democratic party think we will not celebrate the 4th of July. All Black people that were in this country were not slaves at that time and if they were I still will celebrate our holidays just like those immigrants celebrate theirs and plant their flags in America soil. They did not respect us when we asked them not to do their thing during our celebrations. Now they want us not to celebrate our country. And one more thing: birth right citizens do not mean they are not still going home and ICE has stopped. .
@sherelliaroberson-mt6br
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Teach Don, the language is ment to deceive. There main goal is to hurt black Americans!
@redvelvet9876
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
This is absolutely a story about immigration. Immigrants and illegals are taking advantage of an Amendment that was meant for black Americans. Now because Birthright Citizenship has been abused, we now have TPS and illegal immigrants having babies in the United States that are now American Citizens with the same rights as any American citizen who obeys the laws and who's families have invested in this country through our ancestors enslavement. Black Americans are not immigrants and you want us to fight for illegal criminals in the US who are having American children. Are you all crazy?
@etrader4l1fe46
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Are you serious? Bro your not FBA. Supreme Court Ruling Just Cheapened the Value of Citizenship. So for illegal immigrants, let the dropping of babies begin again. We avoid this conversation and always keep the conversation black and white.. It's the democratic way. This has been changing the landscape of America for many years and will surely change even more in the future. Yes I am 60 yr old black man that understands the law and the impact this will have on our country.
@thetony0185
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket and stealing his vote. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you and vote a felon into the White House!
🤯😬😠😡🤬
@Swnsasy
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
The EC came from slavery like the 14th amendment. It was put in place to give slave holder States more votes by being able to count slaves as 3/5ths so it gave them more power than those in the North. Take Virginia who had 200k slaves, that gave them 1/4th of the Presidential voting power. It needs to GO in order to be a true Democracy! One person, one vote. Our entire system is so draconian which is why every Democracy did not follow that insanity that we have.
@loiscarter2378
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
I thank you, Don 🍋 for this history lesson . I learned more in this 14 minutes than I ever did in school. THANK YOU
@Chowlife
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
📯📯📯📯📯📯📯📯📯
@BobbyElbows
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Im a 45 year old white man. I feel like i actually woke up about 5 or 6 yrars ago. Ive always leaned left but im unregistered. Thats when I actually started seeking unbiased information. Its so much worse than I even thought….Greenwood, I had heard the town went away but not how….there's thousands of stores like that.. I feel like the shame kids would feel learning the truth would be a good thing imo!! Definitely an advocate for universal rights. Blue speck, big ole red pool loud and proud.
@YauneeClemons-e8n
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Honesty is so attractive on you
@jjones3441
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Blacks have always been treated horribly … The white man set the black man up for failure I have said this for years and its true
@kaykayvaughn7635
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
That pissed me off because I love Justin,I try to donate to him when I can,It's ridiculous all this rascism Trump and his Maga groupies starting again,I understand.❤
@LathanielHarris
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Are paying blood and death got everybody here on birthright citizenships. If it wasn't for us nobody would be here. So that doesn't make it fair that you come here pregnant and you get to stay with your kid. Thus raising price overcapacity. Can we go somewhere else where they're born and do the same thing no s*** not cool
@Putin_3
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
On the trans sports issue. As long as sports is separated by sex, and those sports have a monetary, trophy, scholarship, something of value reward, I do believe that states have the right to exclude people that do not meet the definition. The only solution would be true co-ed sports. Or if a state has the wisdom to conclude that we are talking about less than 1% of the athletes that would potentially disrupt a particular event.
@carollane7938
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Very powerful commentary! Excellent video.
@claytonmcgill3455
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Hail Eris!
No, the Roberts Court isn't being so direct. Don't worry, the racism is still there, but they hid it inside the decision on transgender girls in sports, so it looks like transphobia and misogyny, and nothing more. It initially looks as simple as "pRoTeCtInG tEh chiiiiilllllldreeeen," but it's a matter of dehumanising transgender women and girls, which will inevitably lead to questioning the feminity of intersex people who present as girls, and then cisgender girls who don't quite fit preconceptions of how girls should look, but you know this is eventually going to hit Black girls who don't look as stereotypically feminine as the typical cheerleader. Basically, this is a bit like a FINAL DESTINATION movie, because the demise of Black civil rights doesn't look like something that Black people need to worry about, when it starts, only when it's too late to stop, unless you start moving against it when it still looks like Somebody Else's Problem. If they're coming for anyone's civil rights, they're coming for everyone's, because they're never coming for just one group, they're just carefully picking groups off.
Snarky, the Chocolate Snark
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.
@treniecemczeke2006
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
🗣️ SPEAK‼️
@Putin_3
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
The reason that there are no exceptions to the 'birthright' is because someone could always shoot holes in your citizenship. "Well, your parents were not born here. Your grandparents were not born here" Go back far enough and many of us are not legal citizens. And many former slaves would have been disqualified by some relative that was taken from Africa.
@MicheleMybell-f2h3n
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
This was so good.
@Putin_3
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Well, if Congress can make such a law that somehow defines what 'jurisdiction' means beyond the obvious English definition, that is not unconstitutional, good luck.
I keep saying this over and over, if a US official can arrest you on US soil, you are in US jurisdiction. We can exclude embassies, Native land, foreign military baes, etc. if you want. But if you are standing on a US possession and drop a baby, that baby is a US citizen. Bruce Lee's parents visited San Francisco in 1940, and Bruce Lee was a US citizen.
AND, how many babies are we even talking about per year???? is this really important?
@gwen3010
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Birthright citizenship in the United States is guaranteed by the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States".The fundamental principles, landmark precedents, and recent applications of this constitutional guarantee shape how birthright citizenship works today:The Constitutional Source: Ratified in 1868 to overturn the infamous Dred Scott decision (which denied citizenship to Black Americans), the 14th Amendment constitutionalized jus soli—the common-law principle that anyone born within a nation's territory is automatically a citizen.Supreme Court Precedent: In the landmark 1898 case United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the Supreme Court affirmed that the 14th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship to children born on U.S. soil to immigrant parents, regardless of the parents' citizenship status.Recent Legal Challenges: In a significant 2026 decision in Trump v. Barbara, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a 2025 executive order that attempted to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented or temporarily present parents. The Court reaffirmed that these children satisfy both elements of the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause and are citizens at birth.Narrow Exceptions: There are very few exceptions to this rule. It does not apply to children born on U.S. soil to accredited foreign diplomats, or those born in American Samoa and Swains Island (where they are designated as U.S. nationals rather than citizens).
@Mystiic_Adilgashii
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Indigenous Native American here (Navajo/Mohave). I disagree on that part about Black people paving the way for Rights for ALL groups. My people fought for our own rights to citizenship and the Civil Rights Act has no affect for us Indigenous Natives for we have our own tribal laws and sovereignty and also got the green light to work in cities through the The Indian Relocation Act of 1956. As the 14th Amendment stands, it was originally created for Black Americans since my Native people are exempt due to having allegiance to our tribes. Its nice that Black Americans created pathways for other groups but my Native people fought for our own rights.
@BruceThrower-nf2eo
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
It’s always been about Black people preach don
@sabrinamj4850
July 1, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Amen to everything you said Don