The rabid rantmeisters of right-wing radio have been howling like offended wolves at U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's absolutely accurate assessment that Americans are cowards when it comes to talking about race.
Syndicated radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh barked that Holder's remarks were "inexcusable." But if you listened closely to the king of the Dittoheads, you realized he and the attorney general were pretty much saying the same thing.
In a speech Wednesday marking African American History Month, Holder 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. 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."
After criticizing Holder for making what was actually an astute observation, Limbaugh said: "People are scared to death to talk about race in this country, Mr. Attorney General, for fear of what's going to be said about them. In some cases, people were afraid to vote the way they really wanted to vote, because they were afraid if people found out what would be said about them."
Limbaugh's right. And Holder's right. So, let's talk about it.
Despite the progress benefiting African Americans since the end of slavery and demise of segregation, including the election of the first black president, racism still exists. In fact, surveys by the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League suggest that President Obama's election has inspired racists.
"Maybe it's good in one sense," said avowed racist David Duke, "in that it's making white people clear of the fact that the government in Washington, D.C., is not our government. We, as European Americans, have got to rally for our own heritage, our own freedom, our own survival as a people, and if we don't . . . we're going to lose everything that's important to us."
The Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center says racist organizations are claiming that Obama's election sparked a recruitment surge. The SPLC acknowledged that these groups are notorious for inflating their membership numbers, but it said their exaggerated claims suggest they believe the Obama presidency will help them win new recruits.
The SPLC has counted 888 active hate organizations in the nation, including 33 in Pennsylvania and 34 in New Jersey. The list includes the Keystone State Skinheads, the Imperial Klans of America, the Council of Conservative Citizens, the AC Skins, the Bergen County Hooligans, the Creativity Movement, and the New Black Panther Party. Talking with such groups is not what Holder had in mind. He would like to see reasonable people have a conversation.
"We work with one another, lunch together, and, when the event is at the workplace during work hours or shortly thereafter, we socialize with one another fairly well, irrespective of race. And yet even this interaction operates within certain limitations," Holder 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."
Limbaugh said the same thing, yet he criticizes Holder. Maybe the talking should begin with the two of them. Maybe they can provide the example of simple, civil conversation that helps people understand just how much they have in common so they really can get beyond race.