Be Careful What You Ask For, Mr. Holder

Our new Attorney General, Eric Holder, gave a speech the other day about race in this country. Apparently we don’t talk enough about it. We are “essentially a nation of cowards” because we don’t talk enough about race. We have to be “tolerant enough of each other” in order to have meaningful dialog about race. I agree with you there Mr. Holder. Let’s start with your own party. If your own party wants to be truly “tolerant”, members of your own party in Congress would not be talking about reviving the Fairness Doctrine. Tolerance cuts both ways Mr. Holder – if you want meaningful dialog, don’t censor the other guy because he has an opinion that doesn’t conform to your world-view.

Do you know why people don’t talk as much about race as you would like? It’s very simple. It’s called name-calling, like in being referred to as a “coward” because people don’t talk about race enough. By virtue of being pigment-challenged, I and people who look like me are blamed for everything bad [real and imagined] that has happened to people of color. When people who look like me point out that illegitimacy rates among black people is extremely high, or that black students are discouraged by their peers from doing well in school because they’re “acting white,” or that we really want you to pull up your pants so we don’t have to look at your underwear, we’re automatically labeled “racists.” If we point out that violent crimes committed by black people are way out of proportion to their percentage of the population, we’re labeled “insensitive.” If we note that the black high school drop-out rate is approaching 50 percent, we’re labeled “bigoted.” If we shine a light on that predominantly-black form of entertainment known as “rap music” and it’s constant referral to women [especially black women] as “bitches” and “hos”, we’re told “we just don’t get it.” Yeah, I guess I don’t get it. I didn’t get the memo that says in order to have a great relationship with someone of the opposite sex you have to call her a bitch.

Discussions about anything, especially race, are pretty short when all one hears from the other side is a list of grievances and ad hominem attacks. After his speech, Mr. Holder told reporters "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."

You first Mr. Holder.