'Nation of Cowards' Aside, Holder Was Right, Especially About Black History Month

Are we a nation of cowards, yes we are, his words may have been extreme in nature but when we honestly reflect on history in american period and then the seperate struggle of those ancestors of the black community, yes we are a nation of cowards who like to hide behind legal antdoctes, racism, sexism, HATRED, we are a nation that likes to brainwash, steal others accomplishments, overlook the underlining root of our problems and place other words for them, we are a nation that has overlooked the history, contributions, and accomplishments of blacks in america rob, lynch, kill, steal, fill with hatred but then turn around and wonder why there's so much animosity within the seperate ethnicities, we are a nation that was built on the backs of slaves, a melting pot of all different kinds of ethnicities, afraid of whats different and what we can't explain, we are a nation fixated on placing labels on everything..well being a bright female who thinks outside the box and i thank god for that we have a lot to fix and it won't start by continuing to point the blame of stay fixated on our past but in the same token lets stop forgetting what America has done, lets stop glorifying the holocaust and forgetting the struggle of blacks in America, which is still going on today, there is only one race and that is the Human race, but we all have a story, let's take the time to hear it and acknowledge it then maybe we can move on!

Nardia of NY 4:23PM March 07, 2009

Sorry, have to call you on one thing - America is not "first in battling ... gender ... [chauvinism]", not by a long shot. Canada is first there, along with the other civilized countries that have legalized gay marriage. It was a proud day to be a Canadian. Hope America catches up soon. With the intelligent, reasonable, open-minded President and AG that you have now, maybe it will!

Denzel 10:00PM March 01, 2009

Attorney General Eric Holder said the U.S. is "a nation of cowards" when it comes to race relations. In one sense, he is absolutely right.

Many whites, from university administrators and professors, to schoolteachers, to employers and public officials, accept behavior from black people that they wouldn't begin to accept from whites.

For example, some of the nation's most elite universities, such as Vanderbilt, Stanford and the University of California, have yielded to black student demands for separate graduation ceremonies and separate "celebratory events."

Universities such as Stanford, Cornell, MIT and Cal Berkeley have, or have had, segregated dorms.

If white students demanded whites-only graduation ceremonies or whites-only dorms, administrators would have labeled their demands as intolerable racism. When black students demand the same thing, these administrators cowardly capitulate.

Calling these university administrators cowards is the most flattering characterization of their behavior. They might actually be stupid enough to believe nonsense taught by some of their sociology and psychology professors that blacks can't be racists because they don't have power. What about Holder's statement that America is "voluntarily segregated"? I say so what.

According to the census, in 2007 4.6% of married blacks had a white spouse; less than 1% of married whites were married to a black.

While blacks are 13% of the population, they are 80% of professional basketball players and 65% of pro football players. Mere casual observance of audiences at ice hockey games or opera performances would reveal gross voluntary segregation.

What would Holder propose the U.S. Justice Department do about these and other instances of voluntary segregation?

The attorney general's flawed thinking is widespread whereby people think that an activity that is not racially integrated is therefore segregated.

Blacks are about 60% of the Washington, D.C., population. At Reagan National Airport, which serves D.C., nowhere near 60% of the airport's water fountain users are black; I'd guess blacks are never more than 5% of users.

The population statistics of states such as South Dakota, Iowa, Maine, Montana and Vermont show that not even 1% of their populations are black. Does that mean Reagan National Airport water fountains and South Dakota, Iowa, Maine, Montana and Vermont are racially segregated?

If Holder does anything about "voluntary segregation" at the state level, I hope it's not court-ordered busing; black folks are not wild about their winters.

Just because some activity is not racially integrated does not mean that it is racially segregated.

The bottom line is that the civil rights struggle is over and it is won. At one time black Americans didn't share the constitutional guarantees shared by whites; today they do. That does not mean that there are not major problems that confront a large segment of the black community, but they are not civil rights problems nor can they be solved through a "conversation on race."

Black illegitimacy stands at 70%, nearly 50% of black students drop out of high school and only 30% of black youngsters reside in two-parent families.

Even though they're just 13% of the population, blacks in 2005 committed over 52% of the nation's homicides and were 46% of the homicide victims. Ninety-four percent of black homicide victims had a black person as their murderer.

Much of that pathology is precipitated by family breakdown and is entirely new among blacks. In 1940, black illegitimacy was 19%; in 1950, only 18% of black households were female-headed compared with today's 70%. Both during slavery and as late as 1920, a teenage girl raising a child without a man present was rare among blacks.

If black people continue to accept the corrupt blame game agenda of liberal whites, black politicians and assorted hustlers, as opposed to accepting personal responsibility, the future for many black Americans will remain bleak.

Tom of LA 8:38PM February 23, 2009

The cowards are the ones that refuse to acknowledge that each person has his/her own problems, strengths, weaknesses, and grew up in situations with their own advantages and disadvantages. Holder still works under the outdated premise that you can lump people into demographic groups.

Holder can prove he is not a coward by confronting the people of all ethnicities about their individual failings. My guess is that he'll fall back into the old stereotype that whites are oppressive and blacks are victims of white oppression, while there is so much evidence that our society no longer works that way.

We also need to acknowledge that the kids graduating high school this year were born in the 1990's. They nor I were even alive when the civil rights movement occured. Even 50 year olds were born at a time (1959) when they could have little or no affect on the civil rights movement. A current 50 year old was 20 years old in 1979, long after the riots of the 1960's were over, yet we still hold ourselves somehow responsible.

Our schools are integrated except for where minorities choose to self-segregate. We have fortune 500 companies with black CEO's. The President is black for God's sake. The head of the Republican Party is black. There is no part of our lives where black people are being shut out.

Where there are black victims, it is largely the result of black oppression, not white oppression. Blacks murder both blacks and whites at much higher rates than whites murder blacks. Illigitimacy among blacks and single motherhood among blacks is certainly not caused by white oppression. We have affirmative action which gives blacks and advantage over whites. Is that oppressive?

Black high school drop out rates are horrible, but it happens mostly in urban schools ran by blacks in cities with black mayors and black city counselors. Detroit is a perfect example of this. These same schools get the same or more funding than their suburban counterparts.

An honest discussion has to start with Holder admitting these problems and largely absolving white of the alledged oppression. If Holder does that, then he is brave. Otherwise, he is the coward.

Eric of MI 11:11AM February 22, 2009