Posted on 02/18/2009 2:57:29 PM PST by Zakeet
Eric Holder Says U.S. Remains a 'Nation of Cowards' When It Comes to Race Relations
The United States is "a nation of cowards" when it comes to race relations, the country's newly minted attorney general said today.
In remarks made during a speech to honor Black History Month, Eric Holder said the country remains "voluntarily socially segregated," making head-turning comments that could spark fierce dialogue and the ire of some conservatives.
"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, essentially a nation of cowards," Holder said at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. "Though race-related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion, and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about things racial.
"This is truly sad. Given all that we as a nation went through during the civil rights struggle, it is hard for me to accept that the result of those efforts was to create an America that is more prosperous, more positively race-conscious, and yet is voluntarily socially segregated."
Holder become the nation's first black attorney general earlier this month.
Addressing reporters after the speech, Holder, 57, said his comments were "a question of being honest," adding that "we have to have the guts" to talk about race issues instead of avoiding them.
"It is an easy thing not to talk about these things. It is a painful thing to discuss them," said Holder, who was raised in New York City by parents whose roots are in Barbados.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
You cowards are going to get a lot of justice from my department.
called us all ‘cowards’. that’s rich....
Keep racism alive is the goal.
Cowards elected Barack!
Holder said so!
Real rich from Clinton’s hit man.
“We wants yo’ wimmins an chilluns.”
We are rapidly degeneraing into South Africa or Zimbabwe.
Eric, white people are not allowed to openly discuss “things racial”.
This is sounding like Zimbabwe II.
These swine start out by insulting the entire nation. From the point of view of the opposition, that is just excellent!
Yeah..........right. Let’s see, the black attorney general in a black president’s cabinet says we’re a racist nation.
Nice going. Guess ya gotta keep Revs. Al and Jesse in business.
I love how ABC says that this will draw the ire of conservatives.
What will satisfy them, just what? I want to know. So we can get this over with. Do they want slavery for whites for 200 years? Say so, if that's what they want.
I for one, am tired of this. I never owned any slaves, I never treated anyone unfairly because of their race, I never got a job, as far as I know, that should have gone to someone of another race. I'm just REALLY tired of this.
In remarks made during a speech to honor Black History Month, Eric Holder said the country remains "voluntarily socially segregated," making head-turning comments that could spark fierce dialogue and the ire of some conservatives.
What rational person would voluntarily spend time with 50 Cent...or, for that matter, with Dennis Kucinich?
I think the "voluntarily" part bothers him more than the "socially-segregated" part.
These are people whose every other sentence contains the word "democracy." Economic democracy, social democracy, real democracy, democracy, democracy, democracy.
But the most basic form of democracy of all--the desire of people to live where and with whom they want--they regard with horror.
Oh, I think Mr. Holder is likely to get quite a bit of “dialogue” on race, but it won’t be the sort he’s used to, with one side making accusations and the other apologies. That’s the sort cowards have been indulging in for the last half century and as one of them, Mr. Holder ought to know.
We are rapidly degeneraing into South Africa or Zimbabwe.
just zimbabwe
south africa is still livable
We have a black President. He is the Attorney General and he’s still bitching. This proves you can never, ever satisfy a liberal.
Yep. I noticed that too. I listen to a local talk show that has two moderates (one left of center). Neither one of them appreciated these comments and neither did any of the callers. I think the 0 administration is starting to wear thin on a lot of people.
Up yours, baby.
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