"The United States is "a nation of cowards" when it comes to race relations, the country's newly minted attorney general said today."

Yeah, we're also "a nation of cowards" when it comes to class relations and its questionable methods of wealth distribution!

Excellent, blunt statement by Mr. Holder. We might have a real Department of Justice for the first time in decades.

Their is not only cowardice, but denial of the institutional racism still in place.

Admittedly, it is a little more sophisticated now. If you are black and already rich from playing the capitalist game, and dress impeccably, you will be treated well by your fellow neighbors in the gated community and suits at work. But if you are poor and have only honest labor to offer, a fellow working-class white will still get hired ahead of you most of the time; the police will harass you for simply being on the street; and, when searching for a place to live, you will find many neighborhoods where the landlord or RE agent will never return your calls.

---USAn---

I am proud to have been kicked off Alternet for using the comparison of Mr. Obama to a House Negro.

The comparison is valid, but not racist. Yet, Alternet did not want the controversy, methinks.

Here is the reference to House Negro. I think Malcolm X hit a home run with this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znQe9nUKzvQ

This exposes Mr. Obama, and others in Mr. Bush's administration, as a hypocrites and a phonies.

This was a huge political mistake and also a bunch of Horsefeathers. Here's a man that doesn't understand his position.

"Still, three-quarters of African-Americans say they've personally experienced racial discrimination."

This is the Attorney General of the United States talking about terms of race discriminatiion in reference to African Americans. Does he think that Browns and Yellows don't run into race discrimination? Did he address the race discrimination (more than 3/4 of Latino's will attest to that) faced by Browns from Blacks? Is he not aware that Whites experience as much or more discrimination from Blacks? And to infer that the higher incarceration of Blacks is due generally to their race is dishonest.

Aside from all that, I would suggest to this idiot that if your enemy is sitting in a tree with a sniper rifle it is nort smart to hand him a box of .50 cal. bullets.

This is beginnig to look like the shortest government in history.

I find it significant that in the second sentence of this news analysis report, ABC News paves the way for the next few days of predictable spin by the mainstream US media pundits when the editors label Attorney General Holder's Black History Month speech "head-turning comments that could spark fierce dialogue and the ire of some conservatives."

What is so controversial about stating that Americans live in a country that is "voluntarily socially segregated", regardless of community demography, economic class or geographic region?

What is so "head-turning" about saying that despite the omnipresence of perceived racial issues in today's society, "average Americans simply do not talk with each other enough about things racial. This is truly sad."?

Thanks a lot for nothing, ABC News.

You couldn't move fast enough to legitimize the overt or thinly disguised white bigotry that is likely to spring forth during the next couple cable TV news cycles, by first predefining it "fierce dialogue" sparked entirely by Mr. Holder, and then excusing the backlash as justifiable conservative "ire".

Bill from Saginaw

Have you heard about the Jena Six? Do you know that African-Americans experience 6 times higher rates of imprisonment even though they are only 12% of the population? That they have the higher rates of unemployment?
I know people are going to blame them for all that, but honestly how can a people who 40 years ago didn't even have the right to vote, are supposed to recover from centuries of discrimination and brutality?
So if race is not a problem anymore, then why do Mr Holder's comments bother some of the posters here so much?

Eric please stay focused on the task at hand for this nation.

RESTORE THE CONSTITUTION AS LAW OF THE LAND.

1. Restore Checks and balances to the three branchs of government.
2. End warrant less surveillance, it is a cancer of torture that will tear this country apart, not make us more safe.
3. End Gang stalking torture in this country.

Bornfreemen

A lot of confusion among white arises die to a lack of what racism is and what it isn't, and in particular this notion of "black racism against whites".

Racism isn't bigotry, styereyotyping, racial jokes, or personal dislikes - although racism makes use of these things). Such things are objectionable of course, but don't result, by themselves in persistent distortions in a society.

So, for the purposes of recognizing and dismantling racism, the best definition of racism is the sociologists one:

- Racism is defined as an organized system of social customs and institutions for the maintenence of power and privlege of one group over another. -

Under this definition blacks can certainly (and understandably in many cases) hold prejudices toward whites, but they cannot be racist, because, as a group, they do not hold a position of poivlege and power in our society.

---USAn---

Holder, shove your opinions up you know where. Right now I am looking at the news out of Switzerland about the UBS bank giving up the 'swiss bank account' secrecy for those americans that hide their money in secret swiss bank accounts to avoid paying taxes. Just what 'brave' steps are you going to take to investigate and bring the law down on these tax dodgers and get some well owed money to the US back in the US. Here's the link to that:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29268064/

And what about the lates 'mini' bernie madoff debacle where the suspect, Texas financier R. Allen Stanford, has disappeared leaving a bunch more people without their money? Here's the link to that:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29277787/

How many tons of evidence does it take to get action taken on these crooks that are scooping up all their fraudulent funds and now are even skipping town. Here is another financier that was being investigated and trying to hold down a lot of disgruntled investors and employees just long enough to skip. I know it is still early on in the new administration but that administration is not instilling much confidence in me. And it all breaks down to having unregulated, non-transparent and 'free to do as they want' money changers and laundryers that are the very crooks that that 'unfettered' part of the business sector attracts just like so many flies to dead meat.
The stimulus will not mean squat unless those that are responsible are hauled in and made to pay for their crimes instead of giving them rewards for their greediness. This country really needs something to show real accountability is still around for the trash that disguise themselves as the best and brightest.

AG Holder, who refuses to prosecute the Bush crime family for crimes against humanity, is the true coward. I guess he doesn't know that members of the Japanese high command were hanged after the war for having allowed waterboarding of prisoners on their watch. I guess he doesn't know that the invasion of Iraq was in violation of the UN Charter and therefore of the US Constitution. He is just another Bush-shielding Pelosi; how dare he, the biggest coward of all, dare call others cowards? If he were a real Attorney General, the ex-members of the Bush administration would be hiring defense lawyers. Instead, Holder lashes out on racial stuff. I, for one, am not even slightly distracted from the real problem. We need an AG who is not a coward to bring a bunch of mass murderers to justice. Nice try, Holder, but no dice. Now, get to work and do what any self-respecting AG would do. You've got a major prosecution staring you in the face. Quit trying to pretend you have more important matters to pontificate about. Prosecute Bush and his fellow criminals or shut up.

Deepa

What Eric Holder said regarding pervasive racial discrimination in the US is nothing new. Similar observations and comments were made by ACLU, some NGOs, and the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

In March 2008, the separate U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) issued a strongly worded critique of the United States' record on racial discrimination and urged the government to make sweeping reforms to policies affecting racial and ethnic minorities, women, immigrants and indigenous populations in the U.S.

Several civil liberties and human rights organizations have urged the special rapporteur to critically examine the continuation of racism and racial discrimination in various areas identified by CERD and well documented in extensive NGO reports, including criminal justice, education, housing, juvenile justice, immigration policy, police brutality, hate crimes and racial profiling.

"The message from the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is clear when it comes to the U.S.’ record on human rights and racial equality – the government can’t just talk the talk, it must also walk the walk,” said Jamil Dakwar, Advocacy Director of the ACLU Human Rights Program. “To claim the high moral ground and assert leadership on the issue of human rights, the U.S government must address the systemic discrimination and injustice that exists in its own backyard."

The ACLU testified in mid-February 2008 in Geneva before the Committee on the contents of a flawed U.S. government report that underreported the state of racial discrimination in the United States. In December 2007, the ACLU released a responsive independent shadow report highlighting the pervasive institutional, systemic and structural racism in America.

The CERD committee, which oversees compliance with an international treaty to end racial discrimination that was ratified by the U.S. in 1994, reviewed testimony and research by the ACLU and other human rights groups before issuing its final report.

Among its recommendations, the committee called on the U.S. to:

• Pass the federal End Racial Profiling Act or similar legislation and combat widespread ethnic and racial profiling practices by law enforcement, especially against Arabs, Muslims and South Asians in the wake of the 9/11 attacks;
• Protect non-citizens from being subjected to torture and abuse by means of transfer or rendition to foreign countries for torture;
• Adopt and strengthen the use of affirmative action programs to eliminate discrimination, and allow school districts to voluntarily promote school integration;
• Eliminate systemic inadequacies in criminal defense programs that have a disproportionate effect on indigent minorities and ensure competent counsel in all cases;
• Address the problem of the school-to-prison pipeline – the trend of funneling minority children into prison;
• Restrict felony disfranchisement policies and eliminate barriers to post-sentence voting rights restoration;
• Address the problem of violence against indigenous, minority and immigrant women, including migrant workers, and especially domestic workers; and
• Pass the Civil Rights Act of 2008 or similar legislation, and otherwise ensure the rights of minority and immigrant workers, including undocumented migrant workers, to effective protection and remedies when their employers have violated their human rights.

So, focus honestly on the issue that the article addresses.

This is a truly misguided statement, on par with Bill Cosby...
As a man of his age, ethnicity, background, education, and now office...
He should be fully aware of the institutionalized racism inherent in the system...
What about the Banksters red-lining the downtown areas, then denying small biz loans or home loans based on ethnicity?
What about the developers who built suburbia and gated "communities", that rely on cars and are alienating to one's neighbors?
What about the industrialists who locate their polluting factories in poor minority areas, and relocate our jobs to other countries?
What about the War on Drugs with racial profiling and manditory minimums and the CIA flooding the ghettos with crack?
What about the Privatized prison industry, with corrupt judges and crooked laws and a powerful prison guard lobby?
What about military recruiters targeting kids in poor neighborhoods, courthouses, immigrants, sporting events, TV & video games?
With gentrification now making entire neighborhoods unrecognizeable to the original inhabitants, further alienating our own past...
How about discuss these issues, build a case, then go after the banksters and corporatists who created these conditions...

Funny how Holder makes these comments at the same time the corporate media pushes hard the story of the racist Obama cartoon in the New York Post.

It's almost as if this is an orchestrated distraction.

And all this is happening while Obama is putting 17K more troops to Afghanistan, the entire banking system continues to melt down and layoffs of 20K everyday are the norm.

There won't be a country left to argue race at this pace.

If I was African American I'd be far more concerned with the stories I mentioned than an insipid cartoon.

Remember, never watch the magician's left hand, that's the bait.

Deepa

February is African Americans’ History Month in the U.S. It gives an extra reason to ponder the journey of African-Americans from the early days of slavery, through Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, and to the present day. Even though one should be thankful that the US society has evolved to where African Americans are no longer bought and sold, treated not like people but rather as property, without reward, without a voice, and virtually without any rights at all. However, while the African Americans are no longer “slaves”, are they truly equal in the US society as The Declaration of Independence proclaims that all persons are created equal?

Let me highlight few areas:

1. Economic:
While African-Americans are certainly much better off than they were in centuries past, the socio-economic disparity between the races remains pronounced in the U.S. today. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the 2005 median income for European American households was $48,554, while that of African American households was only $30,858. The Bureau also reports that in 2001, 22.7 percent of African Americans lived below the poverty level, while only 7.8 percent of European Americans lived below the poverty level. Witness Hurricane Katrina. We didn't see very many European Americans trapped inside that stadium.

2. Political:
You know how many African Americans have served as governors or mayors (leave alone president, vicepresident, speaker) in the 200+ years of American history.
“Ex-Justice Dept. Attorneys Accuse Bush Admin of Restricting African American Vote to Favor Republicans”

“Former Justice Department attorneys have publicly accused the Bush administration of politicizing the department's Civil Rights Division which was formed 50 years ago to protect the voting rights of African-Americans.

According to a recent report by the McClatchy newspapers, the Bush administration has pursued an aggressive legal effort to restrict voter turnout in key battleground states in ways that favor Republican political candidates.” www.democracynow.org, Tuesday, April 24th, 2007.

3. Judiciary:
On a wider scale, race-based inequity is perhaps most apparent in the criminal justice system, where the color of the defendant's skin and the victim's skin play a significant role in determining who receives the death penalty in the U.S. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), people of color have accounted for a disproportionate 43 percent of all executions since 1976, and currently account for 55 percent of inmates currently awaiting execution. While European American victims account for approximately one-half of all murder victims, 80 percent of all death penalty cases involve European American victims. Furthermore, according to the ACLU, "as of October 2002, 12 people have been executed where the defendant was white and the murder victim black, compared with 178 black defendants executed for murders with white victims."

Unspoken, of course, is the assumption that jails are meant for poor, young people of color, particularly young African-American males. According to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, one in seven African-American males are currently or permanently disqualified from voting because of criminal charges. One in three young black males between the ages of 18 and 39 will spend time in prison, on parole or probation.

Is that because African-American men are particularly violent and murderous? A 1997 study of death sentences in Pennsylvania from 1983 through 1993 showed that a black defendant was 38 percent more likely to receive a death sentence than a white defendant accused of a similar crime. According to another report an African American is ten times more likely to get life imprisonment than European American counterpart for a similar crime in the US.

4. Law Enforcement (Police):
Sean Bell, a 23 year old groom-to-be and his two African American friends were gunned down by five plain-clothed New York City police officers who felt compelled to fire over 50 shots total at the three unarmed African American men who were celebrating Bell's impending marriage. Why? The three were unmistakably young, black, and deemed suspicious and menacing--even without possessing weapons. Apparently these young men didn't need to be armed to be considered dangerous.

How do minorities fare at traffic stops? African American, Hispanic and European American drivers are equally likely to be pulled over by police, but African Americans and Hispanics are much more likely to be searched and arrested, a federal study found. Police were much more likely to threaten or use force against African Americans and Hispanics than against European Americans in any encounter, whether at a traffic stop or elsewhere, according to the Justice Department.

Therefore, racism and racial prejudice is systemic or structural in the US. The prisons are disproportionately filled with black men and women, schools serving predominately African American and other minority communities remain understaffed and underfunded, the minority communities receive inferior health care, employment opportunities and many are destined to live in poverty their entire lives.

If the people of the powerful dominant community could somehow grasp the notion that it is only to the degree that they acknowledge and unearth the racist notions that lie hidden in them-often just beneath the surface— and in their narratives (Obama’s political presence is definitely threatening to the status quo) that we may see the same yardstick being applied to all irrespective of colour, creed, and class, and they too would join hands in bringing into reality The Declaration of Independence that ALL PEOPLE ARE CREATED EQUAL.

Technology advances, human interactions remain primitive. Obama is a mix of black and white, so obviously people of different races can love one another and produce children. Now, as far as being able to teach your children how to respect those who are different from you is a different story altogether.

Mr. Holder is stating the obvious because he has to deal with it on a daily basis, just as we all do. For some reason, people flake out when they can't seem to talk about why they hate someone who is different from them. Hate spews from ignorance, power and control or better yet, by those who believe it is their right to oppress others.

Race baiters are like commie baiters; afraid to show their lack of altruistic behaviors...Wall Street is the biggest charade of them all. Basic rule of Contracts 101, you can take advantage of someone who made a mistake, provided good faith was the code of conduct.

Who would you give part of your paycheck to, an elderly African-American on SSI or an African-American who owns a bank?

Why can't February be VALENTINE'S MONTH instead of "Black history" month? Divorce rates are at 50% and rising and today's Afros are getting more ignorant anyway. When we can "tolerate" over-commercialized "Christmas" for two months straight, we could as well just have a month to reflect on LOVE for a change so that our dysfunctional electorate can heal itself ! Enough with the race baiters already !!

Holder and his ...remark: Several observations; Why not offer a solution when you feel compelled to stand and call fellow Americans cowards? Racism is definately against the caucasion. For example, Robert Reich (economic advisor to obma) Jan 09 says "...don't give jobs to white...workers...give them to minorities/women(women are minorities)...do not give it to skilled workers..." . This is not even a case of perception, it is what it is; cowardly racism and appears as if, oh well never mind. Well I don't want an unskilled worker making my computer or building the bridge my family drives over or the post office building I go in to buy stamps. Good grief.

What ever happened to the land of opportunity and or the feeling of accomplishment when earning a degree or post degree, etc. or some trade?

Deepa

An honest discussion is possible when there is an honest perception and knowledge of Reality.

I recall seeing a billboard some time ago. It showed a picture of a native american, an oriental, an african american, a jew, (star of david around his neck) and a caucasion. All the pictures were children about 4-5 yrs old.
The caption said, "NO BODY IS BORN A RACIST" I guess I never learned how to be a
racist. I never saw a black man face to face until I enlisted in the U.S.A.F.

Great speech. Long overdue!

Being European, I have to admit that I normally have a better time with blacks in America than with many whites. We share a sense of humour, I find.

As a - white - friend of mine who lives in the American heartland once put it so graphically: "If you inserted a piece of coal into most white folks' assholes, it would come out as a diamond after leaving it in there for a while, that's how tight-assed they all are."

Which is why I find the visible segregation so deplorable. Because if I want to have a really good time in America, I tend to visit with the blacks I know.

With whites I know in America, the odds are high that I have to endure far too many stories about psychoses and neuroses and depressions.

Whites could learn a lot from blacks. And vice versa, I hasten to add.

The Ag's comment was true, and despite his honesty, there are still elements of raical hatred, and bigotry that exists in this country. The only way to help solve this demise is to get it out in the open and discuss it. This action will help some but not all as some prejudices are deeply rooted. My congratulations to the Ag for having the courage to make the case.

We love the symbolic, and we avoid what's real. It's a type of maturity, and maybe he's right that it is just cowardice.

Idiot newspaper prints an idiot cartoon which may or may not be comparing Obama (or more likely, just a law he signed) to a chimp = protests in the streets.

More troops to Afghanistan, no doubt will cause death of impoverished brown-skinned people = nothing.

Why do we have such huge reactions to symbolic things like cartoons and use of language? I understand that those things do matter, but not nearly as much as bombs and cholera and AIDS and starvation matter. It's like that's all we can deal with at this point, that's the level of what we're ready to talk about. Chimp cartoons.