James Lincoln Collier, author of the controversial op-ed titled "The N*gger in the White House," appeared on CNN Monday to explain why he felt it necessary to title his pro-Obama piece in such an offensive manner, telling host Don Lemon that a “great many” Americans on the far right “continue to think of President Obama as the n*gger” and were simply veiling their racist hatred under the guise of political rhetoric.

Lemon began the segment by asking, “Is President Obama taking heat for more than just his politics?” He then invited on Collier to explain what inspired him to defend the president in such a provocative way.

A great many people in the United States continue to think of President Obama as the n*gger. And I wanted to make that point because there’s a substantial amount of racism still existing in the United States and that’s how I expressed it in order to get that point across as strongly as I could.

Lemon made clear that he had no issue with Collier’s choice of title, only his lack of explanation for it in the piece. which could be interpreted as just an attempt to get attention. Collier responded by insisting that his title was a perfectly appropriate way to capture the deep racism at the heart of many Americans' hatred of Obama and emphasized that his piece was very supportive of Obama and “directed at the people who are against Obama because of his race.”

Lemon then read a passage from Collier’s op-ed saying that the “far right” was undeniably motivated by the resentment of having to obey someone “of an inferior race” in the White House. After saying that he thought Collier was making a “legitimate” point, Lemon offered a little pushback about whether race was the only motivator.

Collier said while “of course” there were those who dislike Obama for other reasons, a large number of far-right conservatives clearly hate him entirely because of his race:

I said what I said. There are a great many people who will pretend they're talking about a political issue, but behind it they're driven by racism. It exists in the United States and there's no getting around it. You just have to listen to people talk when they think they're not being overheard. That is certainly part of the American culture and it has been for a long time.