Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. today called on the nation to
“examine its racial soul,” during a speech commemorating Black
History Month. Holder, the first African American to serve as
the nation’s chief law enforcer, offered a drab picture of
American progress in race relations, as he spoke before a
standing-room crowd in the Justice Department’s Great Hall.
“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,”
Holder said. He continued, “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.” His speech recalled the one given by
President Barack Obama, last March, when he described "a racial
stalemate" of black anger and white resentments that has
distracted the country from overcoming issu