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Hi There, Eric. I Can’t Help But Notice You’re Black. Let’s Talk About How Black You Are.

“We, as average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race,” said average American Eric Holder, Attorney General for the Obama administration, in a speech to Justice Department employees earlier today.

Holder, whose speech was meant to honor Black History Month, went on to call America “a nation of cowards” which “never been at ease with…frank conversations about the racial matters that continue to divide us” despite the fact that “this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot.”

Holder continued:

[T]he need to confront our racial past, and our racial present, and to understand the history of African people in this country, endures. One cannot truly understand America without understanding the historical experience of black people in this nation. Simply put, to get to the heart of this country one must examine its racial soul.

Though he admitted the workplace is now “largely integrated,” Holder complained that, in his opinion, Americans “self-segregate” into “race-protected cocoons” on the weekends and in their private lives.

Apparently our esteemed Attorney General has a bit of a problem with the free association of a free people, as well as with the fact that we’re not all starting our conversations with fellow Americans with statements like the facetious title of this post.

The fact is, folks like Holder, the Rev. Joseph Lowery, and their race-minded fellows are clinging to an increasingly outdated and obsolete worldview like a man long-since rescued from the sea clinging to a life preserver.

Partial proof of this fact can be found in the fact that, in the last eight years alone, African-Americans have served in some of the highest offices in the land, including National Security Adviser, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and President of the United States, with the latter being elected to that position by a margin of 192 electoral votes.

The fact that he can make the remarks he made today, in the face of such a “racial ceiling”-defying reality, suggests that Mr. Holder prefers constant notice of, and discussion about, race and differences to actual equality or the achievement of a “color blind” society. Unfortunately, as countless people who have learned the hard way can tell you, actually engaging in “frank conversations about racial matters” often results in those engaging in those “frank conversations” being held up for ridicule or, worse, fired.

Identity politics and the categorical identification and treatment of Americans according to race, religion, and gender — which has for so long been a key tool in the Left’s political toolkit, and the only way of viewing life for folks like Lowery and, evidently, Holder — is both outdated and irrelevant. America as a whole crossed the threshold into a largely “colorblind” society years ago. Unfortunately, Mr. Holder is apparently among the tiny minority that has lagged far behind the rest of the country in this area.

So, in the interest of making AG Holder happy, I repeat: Hi, Eric. You’re black. Now that we’ve gotten that introduction out of the way, is there anything else you’d like to talk about?

COMMENTS

  • http://www.conservativeone.zoomshare.com MidwayUSA

    You comments are thoughtful but Holder’s opinoin deserves no response. I think most people would agree the issue of institutional racism in this country has largely been settled so no debate is needed. Individual racism exists but what Mr. Holder and his like minded freinds realize is that government, government programs, and courts can not eradicate what a free individual is allowed to do and think. So the next tactic is to get people to “share” their personal thoughts so they can be what; shamed, criticized, ridiculed. At no point did, or will Mr. Holder even remotely suggest he needs to learn a lot more about white culture so we can all get along better. He does not suggest Blacks need to be more open to Latino or Asian culture. So if he is not willing to be “enlightened” during the discussion, then how can a dialouge or discussion take place. This kind of baiting you into talking so you can be shamed and embarrased has been ocurring on college campuses for a long time. It is not a new way to look at an issue, so it deserves no response. By the way, who did he direct his comments to, inner city black men who abandon their children, gang bangers, single black mothers?

  • Kyle-MI

    What I would love to hear from Holder or Obama. I am not holding my breath.

  • izoneguy

    What is he really saying????

    What he is saying is completely and utterly wrong.

    Especially for someone in his position.

    I am white. We have many, many friends of all ethnic

    backgrounds that we see on a regular basis.

    On any given weekend my sons will have over,

    black kids, Indian kids, kids who climb on rocks,

    fat kids, skinny kids, even kids with no socks….

    You get the picture.

    Holder really needs to

    apologize to America and resign immediately.

    • Praveen

      “self-segregate” into “race-protected cocoons” on the weekends and in their private live

      So if I don’t mingle with blacks on weekends is that being racist? Or even if I don’t have any social connections with black people does that make me racist? Does that mean EVERYBODY MUST have racially diverse relationships?

      And then my private life? So all same-race couples are racists?

      These guys are “whiners”. How they long for a racially divided society. They talk race because they think it keeps them relevant.

      Shame on this PEST.

      • http://www.fredmaidment.com Fred Maidment

        n/t

  • EagleWatcher

    If …

    1. You criticize Obama
    2. We don’t like you

    You are a racist. End of discussion. Now let us eat our waffles.

  • mailloux

    Attorney General Holder probably got upset when the issue of this year’s DOJ family picnic was brought up at a recent DOJ staff meeting. Some of that upset probably spilled over into his speech.

    Here’s how the staff meeting likely went:

    Staffer: Mr. Holder, on a lighter note, we should probably begin planning for this year’s DOJ family picnic.

    Holder: Did I just hear what I thought I heard you say?!

    Staffer: I don’t quite know what you mean sir?

    Holder: Well then, let me educate you. “Picnic” is a racist term. Its origin is from the old south when gangs of whites would pick a black man for lynching. After they had lynched the black man, they would gather their families around their victim for a boxed lunch. That’s where the word ?picnic? came from. It means to pick a black man for lynching . . . only the nic stands for the N word.

    Staffer: Sorry sir, I didn’t know.

    Holder: Well now you do! So unless you plan on lynching a black man this summer, I suggest you change the official name of the event to the DOJ Family Outing.

    Staffer: Yes, sir. I’ll do that right away.

    Although, I was being facetious about Eric Holder being upset about the word, ?picnic,? there are plenty of others that really are upset about those sorts of things and see outright racism in it . . . even when it?s proven beyond a reasonable doubt that words like picnic have nothing to do with racism (it comes from a French word). Colleges and universities, for example, are influential places where ?identity politics? is thriving and is the majority opinion. So, unfortunately, expect more Holders, despite plenty of evidence of a color blind society.

    This subject (i.e. calling words like picnic racist and making them forbidden), by the way, was the topic of my Redstate post today.

    Take Care, mailloux

  • robmikpet

    Most of America HAS become color blind……..meaning we don’t care who is black, white, asian, a 1/2 asian-indian transgendered person in a wheelchair.

    So it is not good enough to just live your life you have to acknowledge racism or that maybe you are a racist or maybe possibly you might by accident have a single racist thought.

    So think about racism all day everyday and TRY AND BE BETTER PEOPLE YOU REDNECKS!!!

    • janis

      But being beat over the head with the charge of being “racist” every 15 minutes has changed things for me. When I see a black person now, I wonder if they hate me for being some shade of white. I wonder if they voted for Obama and, if so, how do they feel about what he’s done since Jan. 20th? I’m sick to death of being called something I am not and I’m beyond sick of watching these bozos trying to gin up outrage over attitudes that most of us are beyond.

      I think they are doing this to forestall criticism of an administration that is hell-bent on savaging this country in every way it can think of.

      • Rod_Patrick

        I agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

      • c17wife

        n/t

      • http://hillbillypolitics.com Steph C

        We’re all shades of some color, even white. Who cares? Only those who need victims to keep feeding them power.

        As far as what they think of you or me for being white, don’t worry about it too much. Most are probably feeling pretty much like you do, wondering if you hate them because they voted for the shlub.

        I can understand how the emotional pull affected them and I can’t blame them forever because they were conned just like the whites who voted for him, too. Only 13% of the population is black. Obama got 52% of the popular vote.

        And there is some good that came of it, although there’s still going to be a lot of pain as well. The Republicans have finally met reality. Now, we have to see if they can maintain and continue the revolution.

      • Praying

        I got so tired of being called racist – literally – by every Obama supporter I knew. I never considered myself racist, but now, frankly, I may be just a tad. I mean come on, we have a black guy in the White house – can’t the rest of you stop playing victim for 5 minutes?

        “One cannot truly understand America without understanding the historical experience of black people in this nation. ”

        I beg to differ. One cannot truly understand America without understanding the true determination, grit, and resolve of those who made it, on their own, without any government handouts, not expecting someone to give them a job or a house or health insurance. We strived, and we survived. We are Americans. We are black, red, white, and yellow, We made it. We did NOT need the government to take care of us. We rewarded success and punished failure. We had incentive to improve ourselves, our community, and our country.

        Now you understand America. At least the way it used to be.

  • angryred

    You are the Attorney General of the United States and you are Black. The President is Black!! Why are we talking about this.

    I thought we were supposed to be “Post-racial” now…so much for that change.

    • izoneguy

      a white AG had said this.

      Obama & Holder act as if there *hit does not smell.

      Oh it smells and is leaving a visible trail.

  • 10ksnooker

    My next door neighbor is black.

    Maybe Holder just forgot about the KKK being a Democrat terror group. I am sure he knows the history of lynching, Jim Crow laws, and segregation — I guess he just assumes you don’t know they were all Democrats who did the worse racial things in our nations history.

    Maybe he needs a sit down with KKK Byrd to help him cope.

  • Rod_Patrick

    And all other non-Black people work as slaves for the Glory of the Black King.

    Jackson, Sharpton and Farrakhan will be the Blackening Ministers.

  • gardenstateeric

    I don’t see how we can possibly scale back or eliminate affirmative action until this nation overcomes its racist past by electing a non-white president. Oh wait, that just happened three months ago.

  • c17wife

    I am by his words. He has some real cajones standing up there talking like that. It offends me almost as much as the two black boys calling each other n*gg*r today as I walked past them on my way into my kids’ middle school.

    WTF doe she want us to talk about? Isn’t segragated onthe weekend what Michelle Obama wanted in her senior thesis. Seriously.

    I am SO over the double standard we have in this country. Oh, to be able to call a spade a spade and it not be deemed racist.

    Conversation? You want a racial conversation? Bring it on. But don’t bitch when you don’t like what some have to say about it.

    • http://www.AmericanThinker.com Hammer2008

      n/t

  • johnt

    An elite force of dedicated, karate trained, and racially super sensitive
    busybodies who will fan out to trouble spots, white neighborhoods , and root out ignorant rednecks who would rather spend Sunday with their fat mother in law than copiously confess their bigotry to African American civil servants. Self flagellation not required but helpful in establishing guilt and moral depravity.

    The Sin will never be expiated, the left will never give it up. Maybe after five or six Black Presidents but not yet.

  • bk

    “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”

    The problem an average white person like me has is that we get tired of endlessly getting drilled in the head by the race club. People came here in the 70s from Viet Nam not speaking a word of English and with only the clothes on their backs and they seem to have made out just fine. This endless black “victim” crap needs to end.

    • Rod_Patrick

      Seems to me that it fell on deaf ears.

  • http://www.AmericanThinker.com Hammer2008

    Good headline AP!
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090218/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/holder_race

    Perhaps as part of Obama’s greening of America, we can replicate school busing and have forced workplace carpooling?

  • Tbone

    Yep, start referring to me as “Brother Tbone”. After all, if Obama can chose his ethnicity so can I. I am pretty sure I have some African blood somewhere in the old family tree because when I was young I really could sky.

    I have ordered “Ebonics” from the Rosetta Stone company. They say I’ll be rollin in no time. Also, I would encourage all currently white folk to switch to being black folk. It’s easy. Just start checking that box on all your government forms. Bingo a brother, or sister, as the case may.

    This way our “dicussions about race” will only be about what we used to be and the term “Uncle Tom”, now used in reference to any black person appointed by or elected as a Republican, will be put to rest.

    Just think, we will be singin’ “Kumbaya” and know what the word means.

    • Finrod

      You should take all your redstate posts and put them through the jive filter before posting. :-)

      • Finrod

        .

    • http://www.fredmaidment.com Fred Maidment

      …Therefore, since they accept evolution, they must accept the theory that man originated in Africa 3-5 million years ago as Australopithecus, and that Cro-Magnons (aka Homo Sapiens) also originated there. So, if you go back far enough, we’re all African Americans.

      Of course, a lot of Republicans accept the Genesis story as metaphorical and believe in evolution of some kind, but it’s the the Dems who keep saying we can’t allow Bibles in school… Shouldn’t they (Dems) be touting the “we’re all black” mantra?

  • http://www.800cart.com Ron Robinson

    Is this just your personal feeling, or are you signaling the beginning of new prosecutions under US Code?

    Are you announcing a new test for our freedoms of assembly? A gathering of blacks will be illegal if there are not enough whites present? Or vice versa?

    So from your perspective, it was a nation of cowards that fought the civil war? It was a nation of cowards that rejoiced over the emancipation proclamation? It was a nation of cowards who went to Selma and Montgomery? It was a nation of cowards (mostly Republicans, as I recall) who passed civil rights legislation? It was a nation of cowards who elected a black president and let a black terrorist-pardoner be AG?

    Eric, I think you didn’t get the memo: we are now living in the post-racial world that your boss promised us. If you didn’t get a copy of the memo, I can forward a copy to you.

  • Kowalski

    Most of what Eric Holder is going to talk about in the next few years is identity politics. He’s also going to do a lot of things based on identity politics, because that’s what the President wants.

    It’s a sad thing to see in America, it’s most certainly the wrong thing for our country, but it’s a big money maker for politicians and their acolytes. Without believing in identity politics you couldn’t have criticism of institutions based on critical race theory, and without that you couldn’t fund many of the professors at our most esteemed universities.

    For that reason alone, Eric Holder is going to move that narrative back to front and center, because tens of thousands of professors’ grants are relying on it. More importantly, keeping people angry and divided about past injustices is the single most important way you can divide people while still keeping their money flowing in your direction. It’s all about the narrative, baby, and in the next few years you’re going to hear more and more Holder stories.

    • Kowalski

      In addition to enforcing Affirimative Action laws, he should also require that all businesses in the United States hereby give Black people 20% off until the end of Barack Obama’s term in office.

      This applies to stockbrokers, lawyers, doctors, car dealers, housepainters, plumbers, newspaper salesmen, advertisers, people who make and sell Venetian Blinds, and even internet companies. You’re Black? You get 20% off, no questions asked. Just show up and we’ll give you the special discount.

      • Kowalski

        “Buy a GM or Chrysler product now, and if you’re Black, you get 20% off the purhcase price.” Joaquin Phoenix can qualify if he starts making hip-hop records soon enough, even though he looks more like a cross between the Blues Brothers, ZZ Top, and Karl Marx.

      • Tbone

        nt

  • Kowalski

    I lived in New Jersey for most of my childhood and adolescence, and as a result I heard no shortage of frank conversations about racial matters.

    One of the frank conversations I heard was:

    “How in the hell does the woman from Taiwan who drives around in a Mercedes 500 SL and has a big sign that says: “Term: Cash” on her cash register at her Chinese restaurant manage to get the State of New Jersey to pay for all the children she has?”

    The answer was simple, she told me:

    “I lie.”

    Then later, she moved back to Taiwan after cashing out with several million dollars.

    That’s how frank the discussions are.

  • theadmiral

    We need to all get familiar with these 11 points. It’s their playbook. It’s completely unprecedented for a modern AG to give a speech on race, esp. one as inflammatory as this one. It’s all part of their plan.

    Alinksy’s 11 rules straight from Rules for Radicals.

    Rule 1: Power is not only what you have, but what an opponent thinks you have. If your organization is small, hide your numbers in the dark and raise a din that will make everyone think you have many more people than you do.

    Rule 2: Never go outside the experience of your people.
    The result is confusion, fear, and retreat.

    Rule 3: Whenever possible, go outside the experience of an opponent. Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat.

    Rule 4: Make opponents live up to their own book of rules. ?You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.?

    Rule 5: Ridicule is man?s most potent weapon. It?s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

    Rule 6: A good tactic is one your people enjoy. ?If your people aren?t having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic.?

    Rule 7: A tactic that drags on for too long becomes a drag. Commitment may become ritualistic as people turn to other issues.

    Rule 8: Keep the pressure on. Use different tactics and actions and use all events of the period for your purpose. ?The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. It is this that will cause the opposition to react to your advantage.?

    Rule 9: The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself. When Alinsky leaked word that large numbers of poor people were going to tie up the washrooms of O?Hare Airport, Chicago city authorities quickly agreed to act on a longstanding commitment to a ghetto organization. They imagined the mayhem as thousands of passengers poured off airplanes to discover every washroom occupied. Then they imagined the international embarrassment and the damage to the city?s reputation.

    Rule 10: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. Avoid being trapped by an opponent or an interviewer who says, ?Okay, what would you do??

    Rule 11: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. Don?t try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies. Identify a responsible individual. Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame.

    This is nothing more than an attempt to divide us, to polarize the two sides, shore up their support, continue the chaos and serve as a distraction for something else being planned. It’s bait pure and simple.

    In a perverse way, yea we are cowards…… for being too scared to call out Sharpton, Jackson, Wright, Obama, et al for the race baiting hustlers they are. They are the racists. They are the cowards for not being truthful with blacks, for not wanting to create an environment for their success which would mean greater success for all of us. It’s always been about power and it’s clear that’s all that matters to this regime.

    Read the rules again….think about how exhausted we all are from the daily barrage of crap coming out of this regime. At some point, and I think some point soon, the American people will quickly tire of the doom and gloom and pessimism and chaos and drama and look somewhere for real hope….conservatism and liberty and freedom. And we’ll see this regime fail gloriously.

    • Praying

      Reading it feels so Orwellian, until you realize, it is here, it is now. It is very scary.

  • RetiredFF

    is one that cries racist of others!!!!

  • Patrick_Murdock

    Mr. Holder should have the black community look in the mirror because if he did, then they would see the culprit for most of their problems today.

    But its easier, of course, for racism peddlers such as Holden to lay the blame for the black community’s problems on race, on whites, etc.. Its always easier to blame someone else, some other group, some issue, for the problems you often create.

    Its interesting, accepting responsibility for your life, for the decisions you make, is the ultimate freedom. Yet, our government seems to do all it can to steer its citizenry away from this powerful truth.

  • Tbone

    pink congresspersons to attend their annual BBQ?

  • olsmithie

    Perhaps he is just citing his own experience on the weekends.

    Sounds like he needs to read a little more Dr. King, and a little less Reverend Wright.

    Regards

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