Newt calls out Holder on race

If you don't know about Holder's comments on race that prompted the response of former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich then here's a story on that:

Eric Holder, the nation’s first black attorney general, said Wednesday the United States was “a nation of cowards” on matters of race, with most Americans avoiding candid discussions of racial issues.

In a speech to Justice Department employees marking Black History Month, Holder said the workplace is largely integrated but Americans still self-segregate on the weekends and in their private lives.

“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards,” Holder said.

Now here's Newt's response to our Attorney General:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called out Attorney General Eric Holder Friday over his comment that the United States is a "nation of cowards" on issues of race.

"I'm welcome to have a dialogue with you about cowardice, anywhere, any time," Gingrich challenged the attorney general during a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference.

"I certainly hope that Attorney General Holder will have a dialogue about whether we are a nation of cowards," he continued.
...
While Gingrich repeatedly highlighted Holder's use of the word "cowardice," the former House speaker did not make a direct reference to race. He pointed to the "failed policies" of inner city Detroit, but did not directly rebut Holder's claim.

"This is a nation of people courageous enough to tell the truth," Gingrich said. "This is a nation courageous enough to stand up when they know they are not being told the truth."

Sometimes when it comes to issues of race, the people doing the talking may not always tell the truth. As I've stated many times on this blog, it's very easy to thrown down the race card, especially when people may disagree with you. As a result people shut up because someone might just be dumb enough to consider them racist.

I would like to see how honest would Gingrich be on race and conversely Attorney General Holder. How would Holder take on urban policy in Detroit or any major inner city area? What exactly would the former Speaker propose to help inner city minorities? How might either address the issue of segregation on the weekends as Holder seemed to attempt to tackle?

Let me tackle that.

One day in religion class we discussed these comments. Indeed the professor referred to Holder as an angry black man. Indeed he went on to say that Obama wasn't an angry black man. Whatever happened in his life prompted these comments.

At the same time why address why Americans do what they do on the weekends. At work or at school people have to work together and it doesn't matter your background. You have to work with people of different backgrounds and study with people of different backgrounds. I intentially avoided race, because I consider that a background.

People are free to associate who they want to associate with outside of work. That's not to say of course that there are those who won't associate with blacks or whites no matter what. That is to say that if people who work or study together wants to they will hang out with their black or white friends outside of work or school.

Of course there could be one problem. Perhaps if one started to take on stereotypical attributes of either a black or a white person there could be some problems. Especially if you want to fit in, however, one can over do the who black people talk in slang for instance.

What say you about Gingrich's comments and Holder's comments?