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. 

Barack Is Not the Only One Being Tested

So it's 10 days and counting. To election day. Hats off to those that voted early - please do so if you haven't already. Republicans, Democrats, Greens, Independents alike we all share a common desire for our country to be 'well'. We just don't agree on how best to achieve that goal. That's okay. If we can focus on a few things that we do agree on we can start from there. 

Some of us have been waiting for the October 'surprise', this event that would cause a rift amongst voters that would favor one particular political party and carry them on a wave to victory. We were thinking it would be military-related, perhaps something to do with Osama bin Laden. He's chilling somewhere in a villa with amenities despite public declarations of him hiding underground in some hole or cave. Don't you think someone would've found him by now? It's been 7 years! So that wasn't it.

We've had the inevitable financial catastrophe that some wise but ridiculed economists and trend forecasters warned people about at least three years in advance - but it was barely covered by the corporate media and most people weren't really interested in hearing 'doomsday' predictions truth be told. We're not quite out of the woods yet. Even as uncomfortable as this makes a lot of people that is still not quite enough to sway those that are single issue voters or those with a narrow focus. 

As for the rest of us who think we've decided what matters, we are being given another opportunity for review. How? Aside from the candidate, his wife, his children and anyone who's ever associated with them WE are being tested for our judgement, loyalty and common sense. 

This incident with Ashley Todd is our defining moment, as much as the Obama campaign (and this country) does not want to focus on race and the white supremacist structure that exists here. This is the biggest unofficial referendum on the ballot. For some would use every divisive racial tactic in the book to blow apart his campaign and ignore the will of half the country. 

Keith Olbermann discussing the Hoax heard 'round the world.

Because let's be clear, we have a majority of white people here and they have to decide where they stand. Not being aware of 'racism' can no longer be the caveat. Not when highly paid operatives and their supporters are trying to manipulate the system for their personal gain. Concerns about "issues" were tossed out six weeks ago and John McCain clearly stated his campaign was going to be about attacking Obama personally. He has encouraged a certain faction of supporters to regress to their basest nature, even commending them for acting out. Other Republicans have followed suit even going so far as to suggest some people who don't fit their narrow definitions are not American = not white = wrong. 

So now this is bigger than the McCain campaign and the Republican party. This is bigger than the election, though the result desired is selecting new leadership. No, the true goal here for us as 'Americans' of every creed, nationality and social standing is our very soul, our moral compass and to state what we stand for when tested. All the warm and fuzzy moments aside and all the feelings of harmony when times are good mean nothing if they were to be thrown aside at a time of duress. 

Will we continue to be a country based on engineered racial hierarchy and social standing? 

Let's state for the record that both major political parties have some serious flaws. Black people have had their votes marginalized since our enslaved ancestors were set 'free'. It's been a freedom that has been attacked time and time again, often using the rule of law to suppress that freedom along with our voting rights. Blacks have also been far too loyal to the Democratic party without demanding reciprocity. We also have internal motivations that need to be reevaluated. I believe that time for being taken for granted is over and done, never to be revisited. We still have to fight voter theft and let's also be clear that it has been directed by the Republican party almost exclusively since the passage of the Civil Rights Act. 

I have to seriously question any individual who may be opposed to certain policies of the Democratic candidate but would still support the McCain ticket after everything he has allowed. If he has a strong enough platform why can't he just run on that and let the PEOPLE decide? Why does he have to seek to tear this country apart with anger and hatred just so he gets elected President? If you see how power hungry and erratic your candidate of choice behaves before the election what do you think he'd be like afterwards? 

We have to take responsibility for those we put in positions of power! Why would a person who claims to love this country vote based on fear or smear tactics? I hope people of consciousness would decide to take their vote elsewhere and declare to those in their own party who are being so hateful, "Not in my name." 

It has been divine intervention that these plots for racial disharmony, the lies, the voter thefts have come to light so quickly. That and people being ever diligent. And I'll give credit to Obama and how he has run his campaign. He was so much nicer than people wanted, so much more comfortable in 'mixed' company, so shrewd (not Left enough for progressives) and frugal (he wears shows with holes in them). Those that supported him early on had a clear vision that made it easy for more and more people to put aside their doubts and jump on board as well. He's certainly not perfect - but neither are we. 

If enough of us take a stand no amount of trickery, subterfuge or scandal will touch us. This is bigger than one politician. After this I am more convinced than ever why we need Obama as President, though.  Perhaps this will be the spark we needed to overturn this country's long and violent history and finally heal. It's a beginning to be sure, but it's one that is long overdue. 

Here's a thoughtful conversation between Drs. Rachel Maddow and Melissa Harris Lacewell.