Holder: US a Nation of Cowards

[John317]

Holder: US a nation of cowards on racial matters

By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer – Wed Feb 18, 9:36 pm ET

ABC News – AG Makes Stinging Remarks on Race

AP – Attorney General Eric Holder makes remarks commemorating African American History Month, Wednesday, …

WASHINGTON – Eric Holder, the nation's first black attorney general, said Wednesday the United States was "a nation of cowards" on matters of race, with most Americans avoiding candid discussions of racial issues. In a speech to Justice Department employees marking Black History Month, Holder said the workplace is largely integrated but Americans still self-segregate on the weekends and in their private lives.

"Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards," Holder said.

Race issues continue to be a topic of political discussion, but "we, as average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race."

Holder's speech echoed President Barack Obama's landmark address last year on race relations during the hotly contested Democratic primaries, when the then-candidate urged the nation to break "a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years" and bemoaned the "chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races." Obama delivered the speech to try to distance himself from the angry rhetoric of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Holder cited that speech by Obama as part of the motivation for his words Wednesday, saying Americans need to overcome an ingrained inhibition against talking about race.

"If we're going to ever make progress, we're going to have to have the guts, we have to have the determination, to be honest with each other. It also means we have to be able to accept criticism where that is justified," Holder told reporters after the speech.

In the speech, Holder urged people of all races to use Black History Month as a chance for honest discussion of racial matters, including issues of health care, education and economic disparities.

Race, Holder said, "is an issue we have never been at ease with and, given our nation's history, this is in some ways understandable... If we are to make progress in this area, we must feel comfortable enough with one another and tolerant enough of each other to have frank conversations about the racial matters that continue to divide us."

In a country founded by slave owners, race has bedeviled the nation throughout its history, with blacks denied the right to vote just a few decades ago. Obama's triumph last November as well as the nomination of Holder stand as historic achievements of two black Americans.

Holder told hundreds of Justice Department employees gathered for the event that they have a special responsibility to advance racial understanding.

Even when people mix at the workplace or afterwork social events, Holder argued, many Americans in their free time are still segregated inside what he called "race-protected cocoons."

"Saturdays and Sundays, America in the year 2009 does not in some ways differ significantly from the country that existed almost 50 years ago. This is truly sad," said Holder.

Matt Miller, a spokesman for Holder, said later the attorney general used "provocative words to be clear that Americans of all races should stop avoiding the difficult issues of race."

[fccool]

I'm here with Dr. Grimm... it has more to do with Cultures and subcultures than racism. We have Mosks, we have Synagogues, we have Chinese restaurants... I don't think it's fair to classify USA as a melting pot.

People come to US and they do take their culture with them. I don't think it's necessarily wrong for people to have a community and cultural preferences. We do it all the time, and it has little to do with race.

If the above-described is a tragedy, then having cultures and countries is tragic. After all, we are doing on a micro side of this as we are all on a macro. We have countries with borders that we guard and protect... "our way of life", because we like our way of life, and we think that it's better than the way of life of other people.

I think that cross-cultural learning is a better way to approach this issue. We should learn more about other cultures and customs, and travel more... get out of our own shell once in a while and see how other people live. It may mean attending other churches once in a while, or going to a hip-hop concert for educational reasons (if you are not a fan of hip-hop). Much of the time, people criticize things they know and understand nothing about. I find this very prevalent in Christian churches.

[olger]

Political correctness has indeed make America weaker then what she once was. That differs from's Holder's perspective slightly, with the same conclusion.

[Dr. Shane]

America is a melting pot. Yes we have cultures and subcultures but those cultures and subcultures are distinctly different from their foreign origin. For example, we have a Hispanic culture here and various subcultures within the Hispanic culture. Yet our Hispanic culture is distinctly different than the Latin American culture. And its subcultures are distinctly different than the various subcultures within Latin America. This is because of the melting pot effect of America. Latinos come here and take on some of the American culture and lose some of their old culture.

I think Holder is right about Americans being self-segregating to a point. Inter-racial marriage and multi-racial churches are the best cure to that problem. However if we continue to look down on inter-racial marriages and continue to make our churches "Black churches" "Asian churches" and "Latino churches" our progress will be slow.

[phkrause]

When I worked for this printing company, we had christmas party's, etc. All the pressman sat together, the bindery workers sat together, the prepress department sat together, etc. I think this is just the way people are, has nothing to do with race. If I went to an all christian seminar, I'd look for any other adventist in the crowd. People just like to get together with people they know!

pk

[John317]

Of course. It is only natural to want to be with people who are most like you and who speak your language, talk like you and think most like you, etc.

My idea is that we don't elect public officials to give us lectures on how we need to think and behave and live our lives. They are public servants, not our "teachers" and overlords.

If President Obama wants to lose popularity with the American people real fast, he will want to join Holder in lecturing Americans on how they live and think.

I worked for the last 20 years in a job where most of the time the majority of the workers were black. They always hung out together on their free time and sometimes even during work. They ate together. Naturally.

It had nothing to do with not liking whites or anyone else. Anyone felt free to go anywhere they wanted.

The whites congregated together too. So did the Latinos. I was with the Latinos most of the time because my wife worked at the same place, and she's Mexican.

None of this is because of being cowardly.

[Dr. Shane]

I think he was wrong to use the word coward.

[John317]

Quote:

"If we're going to ever make progress, we're going to have to have the guts, we have to have the determination, to be honest with each other. It also means we have to be able to accept criticism where that is justified," Holder told reporters after the speech.

Absolutely!

coward

noun

a person who lacks the courage to do or endure dangerous or unpleasant things.

Sounds like a correct usage of the word. Reckon some might not like the word, but it means what it means.

Do you think that it is dangerous or requires courage or is unpleasant for the various races to be totally candid with each other?

What I find personally is that being totally candid can hurt people's feelings and make people get angry. I am willing to do that if people don't mind it, but they need to be aware of what they are asking for and what the consequences may be when they say they want total candidness in discussing these issues. The reason people are not more candid about race is that when it is done, very often the race card is used, and people start being called "racist" and "prejudiced." I have been through these kinds of discussions ever since the 1960s, including classes in which we listened to and discussed the speeches of Malcolm X, one of my heroes at that time. I took classes in black history from black history professors who were members of the Black Panther Party. Blacks are told that they cannot be "racist" because "racism" has to do with economic power, and blacks don't see themselves as having any kind of economic power over whites; and therefore, they can't possibly be "racist."

Remember that Holder criticized Americans for "self-segregating on week-ends and in their private lives."

All races and groups do this, and it should be expected. It is not necessarily a sign of prejudice. Nor is it because of a lack of courage in having a candid discussion about race.

We have to face the fact that different races and cultures think differently and have different likes and dislikes and different values. It is natural for people to want to be with others like themselves, who speak the same language and like the same things.

Blacks in general think differently than whites, just like Latinos and Mexicans think differently than whites and blacks. I know this personally because all of my in-laws are Mexican and that's who I spend all of my time with, since my own family moved out of California. My children would be the first the tell you it is true that Mexicans think differently than whites. I worked for 20 years with almost all black coworkers. We got along for the most part very well, but I got to know them very, very well. Anyone who thinks that race or color is only skin deep and that we are all the same in our minds or under the skin is not being realistic about race. I think that if we are ever going to get anywhere in race relations, we have to face this and accept it as part of the reality. Ignoring reality won't help-- it only makes it worse.

I am not saying that all blacks are exactly the same. Of course not. However, blacks, unlike whites, use pressure to compel each other to fit into a certain mould. Because of their social and racial struggles, they feel that if they don't stand together and offer a united front, they will all be hurt. Whites as a whole don't care about being "united" against anyone because whites have never felt seriously threatened as a race. Therefore whites don't use pressure against each other to keep all whites "white." For instance, a white can be a good white and be in any political party, but blacks are often taunted if they break with the Democratic party and join the Republicans. It's not unusual to hear about betrayal of other blacks or about how someone is an Uncle Tom or thinks he's white. Clarence Thomas is a case in point.

My sister and her husband, who are white, adopted a little black girl when she 1 year old. She is now 12. She's black in her thinking and her behavior and in how she talks. She wishes she wasn't black, even though her parents encourage her to be proud of her black heritage. They make friends with black families and have her go spend time with them. But she still "hates" being black and hates her "nappy" hair. I feel badly for her, and I hope she gets over feeling that way. She's my niece. She's cute and very smart.

But getting back to Holder, what's wrong, I think, is for a government official who is elected to be the Attorney General to think that his job entails telling Americans how to think and how to live their lives.

[phkrause]

I would agree Shane!

pk

[Dr. Shane]

Regardless if the textbook definition of the word is appropriate, it is an inflammatory word and Holder being so new in the public eye was not showing much wisdom by starting off on the wrong foot.

Think about it. The first black President appoints the first black attorney general and the first thing the guy says publicly is that America is full of a bunch of cowards. Makes one think he isn't the sharpest crayon in the box even if a person does agree with his assessment.

[olger]

Joycelyn Elders??