My Thoughts on the Eric Holder Race Speech and Rebuttals

Our new Attorney General Eric Holder gave a speech Wednesday on race relations in the US. He spoke about people selectively segregating themselves. I thought it was a great thing for the top prosecutor of the country to speak so plainly. I also expect him to enact the policies that compliment what he said, otherwise he's just whistling Dixie out his butt. These things needed to be said though. I found one important aspect that seems to have gotten lost in shuffle: he called for Blacks to be more open to expanding their social networks as well. A lot of Blacks are very reluctant to leave the confines of their immediate neighborhoods and mingle with other people of different classes and races. 

I grew up in a very segregated area that admittedly was designed that way for exclusionary purposes, but I always made an effort to seek out a variety friends. It was awkward and I didn't quite understand what compelled me to do so. No one in my family was actively encouraging me to do so either. I just knew ultimately it would be good for me. Growing up I had always been encouraged to do well in school and I loved to read. 

I had a core group of classmates that I sometimes socialized with after school. We all had similar goals of no babies out of wedlock and college. They were in fact in a higher income bracket than my family. So when I came into contact with some other students in high school who didn't have the same background I had to "deal" with them. They only hung out with other Blacks from the lower classes and were defiantly anti-intellectual. After being called "white girl" one too many times I confronted one female with a pop quiz in Black history: 10 easy questions I think every Black American should know. She couldn't answer one question and that forever silenced her and her crew as to who was "Blacker". 

I told her if she didn't even know her heritage she could not define "Blackness". I have never wanted to be white by the way I just wanted to be myself. That included listening to the Cure and buying my clothes at a thrift shop. So what Eric Holder mentioned is of great importance to those that isolate themselves and miss out. This is especially true for Black women who refuse to widen their dating pool and seek out marriageable quality men of all ethnicities. Black people especially need to get out of all-Black settings because they all too often lead to an extremely warped view of what it means to be Black. 

Also because we need to learn how to navigate our lives in many scenarios as well as be equipped to work around racism when we can. The ally or mentor we need to progress career and life-wise may NOT be another Black person. Go chew on that! So I was really surprised by Dr. Melissa Harris Lacewell's Op-Ed piece blasting AG Holder. She says:

"But ultimately, Eric Holder's discussion of race in America was a failure. It failed because Holder spoke more like a grade school principal than like the attorney general of the United States. He framed our nation's continuing racial work as a struggle to feel comfortable, be tolerant, and have "frank conversations about racial matters."

I appreciate the sentiment, but I would prefer Holder use the Department of Justice to sue those who illegally discriminate against racial minorities rather than holding encounter sessions in the lunchroom. 

Eric Holder has something more. He has the law. I don't want my attorney general to scold me about having conversations; I want him to tell me the lawsuits he plans to file against those who continue to practice educational, employment, and housing discrimination."

I understand she wants systematic racism acknowledged and addressed and I completely agree. I also think this is the same argument that fuels the Civil Rights Industrial Complex and promotes too much of a victim mentality amongst the masses. It's why the focus is still on white cops who shoot Black men who may or may not have criminal backgrounds. It's why the NAACP only takes up the cause of a Black man that's been harmed by a white person. Black women are rarely part of this call to arms to protect and support. Black on Black crime and the murder rates are completely ignored. The protectionist attitude of "saving the oppressed Black male" is seen as the only perspective. 

It fuels the Obama as Messiah perspective. It's not realistic, not happening and it encourages people "to wait" on the benevolence of others. It promotes being passive instead of active participants. Laws can be changed to be favorable one decade and punitive the next. I think enough of our ancestors have paid the ultimate price. It's time for a new strategy. 

Also this doesn't address the internal motivations of many who will not step into their power and pick up the mantle of leadership. There's a bit of a destructive element going on in the Black community where people are turning on each other - except when it's to decry "racism". The focus cannot be solely on that. We are stronger than that. We can do better now. It's a choice we can make. 

Primates & Politics In A Post-Racial America

So by now unless you've been living under a rock (or parceling out your daily corporate media brainwashing) you've heard about the cartoon that compares our President to a dead chimp. Ooh somebody's gonna get audited soon! Like for the last 10 years at least. People are outraged I tell ya....but you know what....I bet #44 is just brushing it off his shoulders. He's got more important things to think about, like trying to don a cape to save an ungrateful Amerikkka.

Also our new Attorney General got gully and said people were cowards for not being honest about their racial animus. Now let's see what policies the Just-us Department enacts under his tenure to compare if his words and actions are in sync. Already he's said more than Obama would about race and in a direct but firm delivery. Is he the "bad" cop to Obama's "good" cop facade? 

There's a part of me that thinks thusly: all of the politicians (and private citizens) who'd rather see their districts, their states go down in flames rather than be helped by that Black man they didn't vote for should get their wish. Reject the funding. May your flight off the side of the cliff be swift and take as many of your friends with you as possible. 

Filmmaker Alexandria Pelosi has another documentary "Right America Feeling Wronged" which chronicles the "pain" of those whites that didn't want Obama for President (but who couldn't offer any legit policy objections) and they were shedding bitter tears. Some people may be offended by the more incendiary sentiments expressed but I just laughed. Now they get to have a taste of what it's like for the rest of us. Here's one of the funnier clips though just so you get a taste of the underlying racism that presents itself through the anti-intellectualism of its host:

Last night's Anderson Cooper segment between Roland Martin and Ron Christie discussing the validity of AG Holder's statement on race was indicative of a) Republican obstructionism and obfuscation b) the idiocy of some people c) the lack of honesty about the attitudes in this country d) why getting emotional undermines getting work done. There is something quite unsettling about watching a real-life Uncle Remus in the flesh though.

Take a chill pill Roland, the guy is an eloquent idiot and you know that's why CNN put him on. It's the stealth racist tactics you have to look out for. Christie is being paid to be a professional contrarian and enjoys his role - which is why he can deliver his argument without emotion. Were Amy Holmes or Tara Wall not available? Did anyone else blanch when he used the term proud Black man? 

Here's the kicker though: he probably knows more about Black heritage than the average Black person. This is the danger of touting post-racial politics. He has no alliances to the Black community. You know he was made fun of as kid. I can picture him grinning to his benefactors and see the groove worn at the top of head from its most often patted section like the good little lapdog he's been. He simply has no self-respect but like your average rap artist who touts drug-dealing and rims, he knows what stereotypes to promote to make a buck. Don't hate the player, hate the game. 

I would love to see more Black people offering a thorough critique of the President without partisan punditry. This is why we need more balanced coverage and the Fairness Doctrine back and enforceable. We get it in the blogosphere but not on television. 

Update: Al Sharpton led a protest against the New York Post earlier. True to his race huckster for dollars he has to focus on the trivial instead of changing the infrastructure. It's not sexy or incendiary enough though. I had to ignore an obvious troll at a Black political blog who insisted these Civil Rights organizations and (blowhard) representatives offered equal assistance to both Black men and women when dealing with infringements from white supremacist people/orgs. I asked for specific examples of campaigns that were offering support to Black women who've been harmed/oppressed/insulted and they couldn't provide ONE instance. Which was my point. I think I should add a subtitle to this post: "only applicable to men".