Acting White: USAG Holder Calls Americans Cowards On Race

It has always been my understanding that when you call someone a coward, you are picking a fight. After all, a coward is someone lacking spine or backbone to a non-redeemable level. Once I label someone as such, I never, ever, trust them to step up. The label signifies a permanent character flaw. So the question becomes just what Mr. Holder was thinking, in his new role as Obama’s top lawman, when he called Americans cowards?

Who exactly was Holder calling a coward? His words, spoken in a speech for Black History Month, would seem to be aimed at whites. If so, how does this lowest of lowly labels spark a constructive engagement around issues of race, between the races? Answer, it does not. In fact it does just the opposite, pushing recipients further into their closets, where whispering is the only sound you hear.

Now if what Mr. Holder really meant to say is that Americans are fearful to discuss the subject of race across boundaries, he would be correct. In contrast, I submit that ignorance drives fear, rather than cowardice. But even more to the point, Mr. Holder confuses not being a hero with being a coward, and this logic is simply wrong.

There will always be courageous people who take difficult moral positions that include tremendous sacrifice for themselves and their loved ones, and for these heroic people we all should be grateful. There will also be those who pile upon their fears with selfishness and loathing, to the point of earning the label of coward, and they belong with the despised. However, there is the great middle of the people who, with good leadership and guidance, can be coaxed to do the right thing. These people are neither heroes nor cowards, but are the evolutionary status quo inching its way to progress – the yearning masses.

In his short-sightedness, Eric Holder attacked people not behavior - a mistake - and he painted his pejorative with a very wide brush. His message was opposite of that which won the election. I can imagine Obama saying to his attorney general, quietly, that he best leave the words of inspiration to those better suited, while he sticks to upholding the rule of law.

James C. Collier

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