(CNSNews.com) – Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday told an audience at the Justice Department that despite the nation’s progress on racial relations, “we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.”
Holder, the nation’s first black attorney general, was speaking at an African-American History Month program.
“One cannot truly understand America without understanding the historical experience of black people in this nation,” Holder said. “Simply put, to get to the heart of this country, one must examine its racial soul.
“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.”
Holder said Americans have “never been at ease” with the subject. “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.”
On the same day that Holder spoke, however, a cartoon published in a New York newspaper showed the peril of engaging in the kind of “frank conversations” that Holder advocates. Civil rights activists erupted in fury over a cartoon that seemed to portray President Obama as an out-of-control chimpanzee.
In his speech, Holder said the Justice Department bears a “special responsibility” to set an example for the nation: “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” (Abraham Lincoln).
Holder said the nation has done a “pretty good job of melding races in the workplace” – working with each other, having lunch together and socializing at work-related events. But there are limitations, he said: “We know, by ‘American instinct’ and by learned behavior, that certain subjects are off-limits and that to explore them risks, at best, embarrassment and, at worst, the questioning of one's character.”
Outside of work, Holder said, there is no “significant interaction” between the races.
“On Saturdays and Sundays, America in the year 2009 does not, in some ways, differ significantly from the country that existed some fifty years ago. This is truly sad,” he said. “Given all that we as a nation went through during the civil rights struggle, it is hard for me to accept that the result of those efforts was to create an America that is more prosperous, more positively race conscious and yet is voluntarily socially segregated.”
Holder said the nation should use Black History Month to deal with the “continuing problem.”
“And so we should use events such as this to not only learn more about the facts of black history but also to learn more about each other. This will be, at first, a process that is both awkward and painful but the rewards are potentially great.” The alternative, he said, is to “continue the polite, restrained mixing that now passes as meaningful interaction but that accomplishes little.
“Imagine if you will situations where people -- regardless of their skin color -- could confront racial issues freely and without fear.”
On the very day that Holder spoke, however, controversy erupted over a cartoon printed in the New York Post that appeared to compare President Barack Obama to the out-of-control chimpanzee that almost killed a woman in Connecticut on Monday.
Angry civil rights leaders and other said the cartoon reinforced racist stereotypes of blacks as monkeys.
The cartoon showed two police officers, one with a smoking gun, standing over the body of a bullet-riddled chimp. The caption reads: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."
Police in Stamford, Conn., killed a chimpanzee named Travis on Monday after he mauled a friend of his owner.
"How could the Post let this cartoon pass as satire?" asked Barbara Ciara, president of the National Association of Black Journalists. "To compare the nation's first African-American commander in chief to a dead chimpanzee is nothing short of racist drivel," the Associated Press quoted her as saying.
State Sen. Eric Adams called the cartoon a "throwback to the days" when black men were lynched.
The Rev. Al Sharpton called the cartoon "troubling at best, given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys."
According to the A.P., the Post’s phones rang all day with angry callers. Protesters picketed the tabloid's Manhattan offices, demanding an apology and a boycott and chanting "shut the Post down."
Col Allan, editor-in-chief of the Post, described the cartoon as “a clear parody of a current news event, to wit the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut.” He said the cartoon “broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy.” He called Al Sharpton a “publicity opportunist.”
As Holder said on Wednesday, “Imagine if you will situations where people -- regardless of their skin color -- could confront racial issues freely and without fear.”
(The Associated Press contributed some of the information used in this report.)
---------
Like this story? Then sign up to receive our free daily E-Brief newsletter.