"A Nation of Cowards"

Hearing someone, especially someone at the highest levels of government, call the nation cowards will cause many to wince and many others to react passionately. What do you mean, calling our nation a bunch of cowards?

And yet, as hard as it may be to hear, the words are true. As Eric Holder, the first African American to hold the position of Attorney General, made this assessment today at a Black History observance at the Justice Department. Of course that statement has a context. He suggests that we are essentially cowards because we are afraid to deal openly with the issue of race. Here is the paragraph in which this charge appears. As they say in biblical exegesis classes, take the whole thing in context.

Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards. 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 race. It is an issue we have never been at ease with and given our nation’s history this is in some ways understandable. And yet, 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. But we must do more- and we in this room bear a special responsibility. Through its work and through its example this Department of Justice, as long as I am here, must - and will - lead the nation to the "new birth of freedom" so long ago promised by our greatest
President. This is our duty and our solemn obligation.

When we talk about being a melting pot, I think most white Americans think in terms of Irish, English, Italian blending together. After all, if I look at my own heritage, I'm a large part English, together with parts Dutch, Irish, Welsh, German, and Scottish. See my diversity! Though much of that diversity represents part of the United Kingdom. We have had a much more difficult time melting Africa, Asian, Hispanic folk.

The point that Holder makes is simple: while things have changed over the past 50 years, there is much to do. The fact that we have a Black History month is a reminder that we have not figured out how to include African American life into broader American history. But we cannot tell the story of America without including that story. It begins of course with slavery and continues through Jim Crow to the Civil Rights movement. We elected an African American as our President, and while many whites voted for him, many whites still refused to follow suit -- unable to cast their vote for someone who isn't a white male.

I know Eric Holder will get pilloried by those who want us to think that "racism" isn't a problem -- and only becomes a problem when push blacks make it an issue. But the words he spoke are true. Saturday and Sunday remain largely segregated 50 years after the Civil Rights movement began.

To give an example. Last summer I went to a Detroit Tiger's game. Detroit has one of the largest African American communities in the nation. But from the looks of the crowd you would never known that to be true. There was hardly an black person in the stadium. And of course, there's the church. Yes, our churches remain pretty homogeneous.

So, as for me, I think Eric Holder got it right!

Check out the complete speech here.