For a number of years, CNN political commentator Van Jones has tried, unsuccessfully, to tiptoe on the line between Black man and sellout.
Most recently he’s being called out for his stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict. Earlier this month, Jones spoke at the March for Israel rally in Washington, D.C., voicing support for the Jewish community in the U.S. and Israel. The crowd of nearly 200,000 cheered him when he said, “I don’t want to be silent, because the Jewish community stood with the civil rights movement. Walking arm-in-arm, facing death, going to jail. The Jewish community stood with the civil rights movement and I cannot be silent when Jews are under attack today.”
But then he expressed concern for Palestinian children and called for a cease-fire, and according to reports, the crowd turned on him.
So that’s when, near the end of his 5-minute speech, he did the bob and weave for which he’s become famous: “Let’s take a stand here against anti-Jewish bigotry. Let’s take a stand against Muslims.”
Um, negro, what?
His words didn’t go over well on social media.
“Van Jones is one of the cooniest coons that ever stepped foot on this earth to tap dance,” said mslibrababy on TikTok. “Uncle Tom, come to the front. I’ve got some words for you.”
Understandably, his speech also appeared to distress Muslims. In a change.org petition, Aliyah Khan asked Jones to do better and issue an apology. “At a time when Islamophobia is on sharp rise, his remarks only add up to publicly inciting hate against Muslims,” she wrote. “American Muslims expect him to do better, he should have said to let’s equally stand up against antisemitism, anti Muslim, and all the ‘isms.’ We are not asking for censorship or punishment; we simply request an apology from Mr. Jones for any harm caused by his comments during the march.”
Jones responded on X, saying he misspoke. But he has tried straddling the line so often that X users weren’t picking up what he was putting down:
The issue was your selling out to the apartheid and genocide lobby but thanks for the correction.
Nope. You showed up at a butcher shop preaching steamed vegetables and when the chants began, you didn’t misspeak. You **adapted.**
You are a clown and embarrassment to the Black community. Please go away.
How much money did you get for Hate speech
Took the words right out of my mouth.
Kendra Lee is a writer based just outside Washington, D.C.