D.L. Hughley publicly apologizes for being a Kamala critic
Highlights from the Democratic National Convention
When I saw D.L. Hughley cross the stage of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, my first thought was, “He’s still cute.”
(Fun fact: I met him when I was around 11 years old and hanging out with my mother during her annual credit union convention. I have no clue why he was at that convention or in that hotel, but those two started talking about African-American ceramics after she saw him eyeing a couple of pieces in a nearby souvenir shop. While she was talking to him about her painting background, I blurted, “You’re so cute” and giggled. D.L. Hughley, completely caught off-guard, blushed and said, “Thank you. You are too.” I’m sure he doesn’t remember this nearly three decades later.)
My second thought was, “What the hell is he doing on this stage?”
If you follow his comedy and his political rants, then you already know he has been vocal about his opposition to VP Kamala Harris — specifically her strict response to children cutting class. He was on a podcast (which will remain nameless because I don’t care for two of the three hosts) and talked about how children may be dodging going to school because of nearby gang activity. I paused over that — because he had a point. I also attended a school that occasionally had days that were ruined by local gang activity.
Recommended Read: “He brought a bat to a gunfight ~ Two lessons I learned from black fathers”
I distinctly recall a gang member walking up to a handsome, smooth dancer and all-A student in my class and punch him in the eye. Why? Because his brother was in an opposing gang. That gang was constantly picking on him solely because his brother was forever starting fights but somehow disappearing when the smoke appeared. While another classmate of mine was able to escape from this nonsense — with the help of his bat-wielding father and transfer to another school — it was difficult to argue D.L. Hughley’s point about truancy. Initially.
Weeks later, and in the wildest coincidence, the boy with the black eye found me on Facebook*. We were now in our early 40s. He clearly survived (and ended up getting into the pickiest and top-rated high school in Chicago: Whitney Young). And the other guy (who transferred) ended up going to my high school and became a lawyer. These men were two examples of boys whose parents just didn’t play that. Regardless of their obstacles, their parents were determined that they go to school anyway.
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From that point forward, every time I would hear D.L. Hughley be loud about not liking VP Kamala Harris, I would first compare it to something I knew personally. Then, I would revisit her 2019 book, which I believe I’ve read three times (so far). Almost always, he was factually wrong about something. It sounded like the same loud-and-wrong barbershop conversation that happened on “My Expert Opinion,” but his name is more well-known so his opinions would stick. And that was dangerous.
Knowing this was happening over the years, I never ever expected him to end up on anybody’s Democratic National Convention stage. When he guest-hosted “The Daily Show,” I braced myself for him to verbally attack her again. So D.L. Hughley showing up to the 2024 Democratic National Convention to apologize to all of America was wild — and mature.
When you’re wrong, all you can do is say, “I’m sorry.” I have had more than enough conversations with people who act like there’s a cover charge, a security guard, a rabid German Shepherd and a waiting list to use Google for fact-checking. And he admitted he’d been in that crowd.
Recommended Read: “VP Kamala Harris visits a black barbershop, sits down to talk to Uncle Luke ~ Five years ago, the current vice president set the record straight on truancy laws, black homeownership, the economy, campaigning for black votes”
I really hope other people — mainly black men who are weirdly pro-Trump and anti-Kamala — will see D.L. Hughley’s apology and consider doing the same. If Luke and D.L. Hughley can apologize or admit they didn’t really research her before criticizing her, you can too. We don’t even need the YouTube video to prove it. Maybe you still won’t like her. Maybe you won’t even vote for her. But at the very least, you’ll stop sounding like everybody arguing with Mecca and be better informed (and voting for a white supremacist).
If you’re in the mood for more D.L. Hughley and VP Harris conversations, check out this roundtable in Milwaukee too.
* Don’t look for me on Facebook. I hate it as much as Twitter these days. That account was closed a couple of years ago.
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