EnduringSense

Atty. Gen. Eric Holder in February, 2009 infamously said: “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.”  While Holder’s statement on its face has merit, his motivation and reasoning behind it are questionable, at best.

Eric Holder is a typical radical Leftist.  In his view, facts that do not match his Progressive agenda are ignored or modified to suit the cause.  This group sees the demon for problems in society to be America as a whole and not individuals or personal responsibilities.  In keeping with that philosophy, Holder’s statement about America being “a nation of cowards” was meant to negatively reflect on those who would dare to disagree with the nanny state and entitlement mentalities that many on the Left obtain their livelihoods from.

Yesterday, economist Dr. Thomas Sowell published an article on racism titled A Censored Race War that includes a discussion on race that Holder refuses to address.  Sowell’s topic is the growing black on white racism with Sowell stating:

• “When two white newspaper reporters for the Virginian-Pilot were driving through Norfolk, and were set upon and beaten by a mob of young blacks – beaten so badly that they had to take a week off from work – that might sound like news that should have been reported, at least by their own newspaper.  But it wasn’t.”

• “Similar episodes of unprovoked violence by young black gangs against white people chosen at random on beaches, in shopping malls, or in other public places have occurred in Philadelphia, New York, Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, Los Angeles, and other places across the country.  Both the authorities and the media tend to try to sweep these episodes under the rug.”

• “A wave of such attacks in Chicago were reported, but not the race of the attackers or victims.  Media outlets that do not report the race of people committing crimes nevertheless report racial disparities in imprisonment and write heated editorials blaming the criminal-justice system.”

• “These others extend beyond whites.  Asian-American schoolchildren in New York and Philadelphia have for years been beaten up by their black classmates.  But people in the mainstream media who go ballistic if some kid says something unkind on the Internet about a homosexual classmate nevertheless hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil when Asian-American youngsters are victims of violence.”

Sowell aptly concludes: “Those who automatically say that the social pathology of the ghetto is due to poverty, discrimination, and the like cannot explain why such pathology was far less prevalent in the 1950s, when poverty and discrimination were worse.  But there were not nearly as many grievance mongers and race hustlers then.”

The fact that Dr. Sowell is an African-American who grew up in a Harlem removes from the Left one of their favorite attacks on proponents of opposing viewpoints; racism.  Absent of the race card, the Left often reverts to attacking the purveyor’s intelligent.  That dog also does not hunt with Thomas Sowell.  After a stint in the Marines, Sowell received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University where he graduated magna cum laude, his masters is from Columbia, and his PhD in economics from the University of Chicago.

Should Eric Holder truly want an open discussion on race in America, he would do well to start with a public debate that includes intellects from the African-American community, both from the Left and the Right, in an open and uninhibited forum.  However, such open debate would not be allowed by Holder and fellow Leftists who are committed to continuing the status quo and the industry that thrives on it.