Americans Are Not Racial Cowards

In a speech to the Justice Department employees on February 18, 2009, as part of Black History Month, Attorney General Eric Holder stated:

"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."

I am afraid to say it, but Mr Holder is wrong. The issue is not that whites don't want to talk about race, it's that blacks won't stop talking about it. If you always look at the world as black or white, you never look at people as people.

A racist is a person who identifies or defines people by their race, whether they discriminate against them or not. We will never be a nation without racial, sexual or economic boundaries until we ignore these boundaries. We will never had any form of equality until we look past our differences and embrace our similarities.

Anyone who continues to classify people by race is racist. This would not only include Mr. Holder, but Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and a host of other white supremacists. The same yardstick should be used for any other divisive issues we face in our nation. Gay rights, religions persecutions, economic disparity all fit the mold. Those who continue to complain that they are part of a unique, oppressed group, are perpetuating their problem rather than solving it.

Four states, Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, all meet at one common point. The sand, air and vegetation around this point is the same for miles in any direction. The only difference between these four States is in our minds, not in the dirt.

There is no better way to create unity in our country than for people to work shoulder to shoulder helping someone else. These situations can not be mandated by government. It is necessary for those confident in their own identity to cross artificial lines in the sand so others can follow. Mr Holder can and should step forward as a man, as the Attorney General, as an American, to fight for equal treatment under the law for all.

Justice is blind to our differences, but smiles at our similarities. Only as we are blind to our differences will we begin to sense the symbiotic strength in our similarities.