Holder Speaks Out Against American Cowardice on Race
Attorney General Eric Holder, yesterday:
Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial, we have always been, and we, I believe, continue to be, in too many ways, a nation of cowards.
In predictable fashion, the right-wing likes of Michelle Malkin are turning this around and spewing their venom at Obama, among others, while claiming that “Holder doesn’t want an honest dialogue about race.” The right generally likes to play the racist card against its opponents, much like it played the sexist card against Palin’s opponents last fall, but its accusations are usually baseless. Yes, there is racism on the left, and perhaps even racial cowardice — which is not what Holder was getting at — but it is the right that doesn’t want to address race in any meaningful or constructive way, instead preferring to ignore America’s racist past (and present) in knee-jerk opposition to any possible slight against America and/or to stoke racism by using it for partisan political purposes (and/or, at times, to express racism outright).
As for Holder, it’s not that he, or Obama, wants “the rest of us shutting up while being subjected to lectures about our insensitivity and insufficient integration on the weekends,” but rather that America ought to come to terms with its racist past (and present).
The fact is, as Holder put it, “we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about things racial.” Instead, the old wounds are left to fester, bandages applied now and then, but not treated properly, often made worse with wedges driven in from, and by, all sides — yes, by overly sensitive race-obsessers among the politically correct, but also, and more noxiously, by Malkin and her denial-ridden ilk.
America is a deeply divided country, with many of the deeper divisions following racial lines. Much progress has been made, but there are still bridges to be built, tensions to be overcome, and wounds to be healed. Obama and Holder are looking forward by addressing the truth about America’s past and present, about the racism that was, and is. They aren’t cowards, they’re loyal adherents to the promise of America, to what is possible in America, to the ongoing project of making America a more perfect union, a project that requires courage to see things as they really have been, and are, to admit that all is not perfect, and to work towards a brighter future.
5 Responses to “Holder Speaks Out Against American Cowardice on Race”
“Instead, the old wounds are left to fester, bandages applied now and then, but not treated properly, often made worse with wedges driven in from, and by, all sides — yes, by overly sensitive race-obsessers among the politically correct, but also, and more noxiously, by Malkin and her denial-ridden ilk.”
I don't see how arguing about which side is more noxious is productive – or maybe that's what Holder is getting at. The left needs to quit looking for racism behind every tree and the right needs to speak up against the racism in its ranks.
We all know the Democrats would be hyperventilating right now if a Republican had said this.
I doubt if Holder would tolerate one minute of disucssion of how racist blacks are in their interactions with Asians or Hispanics. My guess is that Mr. Holder would leave out the idea that there really are Asians in the U.S. and that they interact with blacks.
When African-Americans want to have an honest discussion about race, they want to maintain veto power over what can be discussed.
Mikey's misbehavior only compounds Holder's odd anachronism and social gaffe.
Speaking of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder:
Eric Holder is a racial-minority individual, and in his heart and mind he inevitably does not endorse hate crimes committed by George W. Bush.
George W. Bush committed hate crimes of epic proportions and with the stench of terrorism (indicated in my blog).
George W. Bush did in fact commit innumerable hate crimes.
And I do solemnly swear by Almighty God that George W. Bush committed other hate crimes of epic proportions and with the stench of terrorism which I am not at liberty to mention.
Many people know what Bush did.
And many people will know what Bush did—even to the end of the world.
Bush was absolute evil.
Bush is now like a fugitive from justice.
Bush is a psychological prisoner.
Bush has a lot to worry about.
Bush can technically be prosecuted for hate crimes at any time.
In any case, Bush will go down in history in infamy.
Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
“GEORGE W. BUSH IS THE WORST PRESIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY” BLOG OF ANDREW YU-JEN WANG
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I am not sure where I had read it before, but anyway, it is a linguistically excellent statement, and it goes kind of like this: “If only it were possible to ban invention that bottled up memories so they never got stale and faded.” Oh wait—off the top of my head—I think the quotation came from my Lower Merion High School yearbook.