The media has done it again! They’ve taken a sound bite, played it over and over again and have gotten people all riled up!
Did anyone hear the entire speech? Did anyone read the entire speech? Let me give you the portions of it that hit home for me and then I’ll direct you to the complete speech.
As a nation we have done a pretty good job in melding the races in the workplace. We work with one another, lunch together and, when the event is at the workplace during work hours or shortly thereafter, we socialize with one another fairly well, irrespective of race. And yet even this interaction operates within certain limitations. We know, by “American instinct” and by learned behavior, that certain subjects are off limits and that to explore them risks, at best embarrassment, and, at worst, the questioning of one’s character. And outside the workplace the situation is even more bleak in that there is almost no significant interaction between us. On Saturdays and Sundays America in the year 2009 does not, in some ways, differ significantly from the country that existed some fifty years ago. 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.
On Hardball, Pat Buchanan and Professor Michael Eric Dyson had a rather heated debate that left me saying: “This is why we can’t talk about race relations in this country.”
8 Comments
February 21, 2009 at 2:11 am
I’ve said this before but girl, you are “the business.” I came to check on the Steve Harvey thread when I saw this post on Eric Holder. I should have known you’d be all over this! hehe
I have to agree with you, the media has taken a few words and concocted an entire media blitz. What Mr. Holder said is the absolute truth and if people would read everything he said they would understand it does have validity. I applaud him for his wonderfully crafted speech. Pat Buchanan is racist. That video clearly reveals who he is and what he’s about. Dr. Dyson is so articulate and Buchanan was no match for him. Buchanan’s comments were irrelevant to the discussion, but I don’t expect much from him anyway. Now you’re aware this post will bring out the racists, right? Thank you for posting it. Let the dialogue begin.
February 22, 2009 at 10:05 am
Sondra, I don’t have a problem with racist! I just know that we can’t have open dialogue about race in this country Pat Buchanan’s reaction is what we always get. Yeah, it starts out civil but it always turns to the same thing. Eric Holder has proven his point. The Nation of Cowards comment is all we’re hearing. No one’s talking about the real issues of what he said that are very TRUTHFUL!
“..we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race.”
“…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.”
The word TOLERANT is key to the above statement.
“..And outside the workplace the situation is even more bleak in that there is almost no significant interaction between us.”
It was a brillant speech and made some great points but no one wants to talk about those. It’s real sad!
February 22, 2009 at 10:26 am
Read these comments regarding Holder’s speech:
To be fair, Holder’s description was not an all-encompassing evaluation of our national character. In fact, Holder applied it to one area, delicately described as “things racial.”
Holder was speaking at a U.S. Department of Justice ceremony commemorating Black History Month. His point? That if America is to move toward becoming anything that remotely resembles a unified nation, we have unfinished business.
By Clayton Hardiman
“Holder’s remarks have predictably been quoted out of context and thus easily misrepresented and misinterpreted. Holder’s comment that despite considering ourselves a melting pot, Americans are “essentially a nation of cowards” when it comes to race has provoked ire and outrage.
Part of the backlash against Holder’s words has to do with the national self-image he so brilliantly punctured with a deft and deliberately provocative turn of phrase. But Holder’s critics missed a vital link:
By calling attention to America’s racial cowardice, Holder, by implication, was praising the nation’s ability to be courageous on other fronts — the creation of one of the greatest democracies ever, for instance, or in taking the lead in aiding the world’s poor.
Commentary: Holder wants to tear down wall of race
By Michael Eric Dyson (CNN)
Eric Holder was not saying that we are cowards overall. He was saying that we strive to conquer almost everything making it a competition of sorts. But, when it comes to race we are less than competitive at eradicating it. And I don’t think that is too much to debate. The only time I can think of when America has decided that these things take time and should be done slowly is with race and poverty. And even poverty seems to be higher on the list and I don’t need to spell that out.
A Nation of Cowards Walking on Eggshells
– The Black Sentinel (Excellent posts on Race right here at WordPress)
March 7, 2009 at 7:21 pm
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
_____________________
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.
March 10, 2009 at 1:13 am
I appreciate this sites intentions.my mom was black and my daddy was white.they never talked about race..to constantly remind eachother.oh i was having so much fun i alomost for got.sigh.your black.I think thats silly..i think that people (especialy older people) are stuck in the 60’s. the truth is.nobody really cares about your color these days. I se black children hanging with white childrren alot in this area, They could care less if there friend has black or white skin. Because skin color makes little difference. People who freak out about it and make a big deal out of it are what I like to call passively racist. I believe class divides society because when i see a poor white kid..he shares many traits with the steryotypical black kid. Also when I see a rich black kid, he has many of the traits of a white kid on a sitcom. S my question is why talk about race? T separate anything into white month or black month is just as bad as having white and black bathrooms and busses in my opinion. We need to STOP telling our kids that being black makes them majically different. nobody here is african or european we just american. we were all born to american culture there is no longer a defined black or white culture and frankly we borrowed our “black culture” from the southern culture where we used to be slaves. WHy do you think steryotypical blacks are “loud” “vocal” and eat”fried chicken..all are of southern culture. Its funny when you think about it how much a “ghetto black” has in common with a “redneck”. haha im sorry for rambling on its just my opinion is very strong and im from the south (miami) which means you cant get me to shut my trap.
March 10, 2009 at 1:25 am
hah further more im married to a completely white woman. She is my wife why would I see her as “the white person”. people are people, me and my wife dont talk about race. se when people all over the world can have relationships where they dont give the slightest care of skin color(whick can never be achieved when people are always making a big deal out of how much melinin is in your skin cells) then racism will be so small it wont matter(there will always be pople who see skin color as a big difference, such as reverend sharpton and david duke) . the media also hurts us by portraying white kids as the dopey, flighty, clueless weirdo, and the black as the obnoxious,loud, ghetto, streetwise, down to earth person. but no it seems that instead of wanting it to stop many older blacks want to be”even” as in deliver just as many blows to people with white skin as their ancestors gave us. when all summed up, i dont see how black skined people have it any harder than whites of the same number(because there are more whites in general) I bet that there are as many poor whites as there are blacks and there always was. bless you..im out
March 10, 2009 at 1:28 am
forgive me.hah. one more thing. maybey americans do not talk about race because we are all to bussy dealing with real problems like filling our refrigerators and not being able to pay rent. The media is made up of a bunch of rich whites AND blacks who have nothing but time on their hands to argue about things that really have no substance. ok im done, bye bye
March 11, 2009 at 7:40 am
Gabrial: You are so right: