Will Eric Holder Right Racial Wrongs?

Washington Post: Many Hope New Attorney General Will Bring Balance To U.S. Justice

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Washington Post Staff Writers Carrie Johnson and Krissah Thompson.

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For decades, the face of the criminal justice system in this country has been black and male: hundreds of thousands locked behind bars, arrested in disproportionate numbers and facing execution at rates far greater than those for the general population.

This week, Eric H. Holder Jr.'s swearing-in as the nation's first black attorney general and its top law enforcement official came weighted with heavy expectation that the system could change.

Known as a prosecutor who was unflinchingly tough on crime, Holder, 58, is also a former civil rights lawyer who has mentored young black men. Many advocates view him as the best chance in decades to right what they consider unchecked racial injustice and insensitivity by federal officials.

Civil rights advocates are already outlining a long list of priorities, including changing laws that lead to disproportionate prison terms for blacks, ending racial profiling and stepping up the policing of discrimination in employment and housing.

"The most important thing is that we have a person who gets it," said Benjamin Jealous, president of the NAACP. "He understands that the purpose of incarceration is not just punishment and protection but it is also redemption. He understands that people shouldn't be targeted because of what they look like but because of what they do. He understands that enforcing civil rights serves the interest of law enforcement. It's not about what he looks like, it's about what he believes."

Holder will oversee civil rights enforcement, crime prevention and racial justice -- issues with a broad impact and audience -- among many competing priorities in an agency that also plays a central role in fighting terrorism and policing corporate abuse. Fixing decades of perceived injustices is a difficult task at any time but will be especially challenging for Holder now, when government budgets have tightened and scarce money is allocated to national security and defense efforts.

In public statements since his nomination, Holder has emphasized civil rights enforcement, but he has not indicated a desire to plunge headlong into broad changes to the criminal laws. Civil rights enforcement represents a fraction of the Justice Department's wide-ranging responsibilities.

As he settles in during his first days in office, Holder said his personal story will inevitably shape his view of the job. His father served in World War II and was forced to stand in a segregated railroad car, Holder said. His grandmother was not allowed to sit at the counter at Woolworth in New Jersey. His sister-in-law was on the front lines of integrating the University of Alabama.

"As someone who witnessed the civil rights movement and whose family members literally suffered through the evils of segregation, I hope I can bring a unique perspective to the department," he said. "This department has played a historic role in civil rights over the years, and I owe it to those who came before me and to the American people I serve to oversee a vigorous enforcement program that deals with the realities we confront today."

On issues of crime and punishment, Holder brings his background as a hard-nosed, law-and-order prosecutor. As a U.S. attorney in the District, he lobbied for tougher minimum sentences for drug offenders but later changed course on nonviolent criminals, according to Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a D.C.-based group that calls for changing the sentencing system.

In his time away from the office, friends say, Holder worried about young black men caught up in the criminal justice system.

In the 1980s, he and his fellow public corruption prosecutor Reid H. Weingarten began to volunteer at the Oak Hill juvenile detention center. And as the crack epidemic ravaged the District in the mid-1980s, Holder became an early member of the local chapter of Concerned Black Men, a mentoring group founded to provide positive black male role models. From the judge's bench, he sent scores of young black men to prison, but in his chambers, he hosted children involved in the mentoring program.

[chyenna-2009]

If blacks are spending more time in prison than a white man for the same crime then fix that problem.

[sheiladog-2009]

Gregory B. Craig, Obama''s pathetic attorney will probably advise Holder to issue a blanket pardon.

[wardoglrs]

Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ''within the limits of the law'' because law is often but the tyrant''s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual. - Thomas Jefferson

It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brushfires of freedom in the minds of men. Samuel Adams, Father of the American Revolution

In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Father of the Welfare State



The Democracy will cease to exist when you take from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not "TJ"

The Natural progress of things for liberty to yield and government to gain ground "TJ"

"Reform cannot be achieved by a well-intentioned leader who recruits his followers from the very people whose moral confusion is the cause of the disorder." - Socrates


A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine. - Thomas Jefferson

*** Cheney was questioned on ABC about whether the fact that two thirds of Americans were opposed to the Iraq War had any influence on decision-making, he basically said that the American people get to make their input every four years and after that they can be ignored.

[runningralph]

scienceman1, I didn''t change my position. I did acknowledge deathofusa''s opinion. I couldn''t read the theif''s mind, I just say it was a black on white crime and I hope Holder or Obama can do something about the number of crimes committed by blacks. As far as having backbone, refusing to look at different sides of an argument is stupidity, not bravery.

[scienceman1-2009]

its amazing how quickly you changed you position runningralph - when confronted by someone on this issue ??? This shows you have NO BACKBONE runningralph!

[scienceman1-2009]

When the power shifts to another race - all the other races will be mistreated / neglected no matter what race is in power.

[downsteamjm]

Now we will get more Latinos and Asians in the NBA.

[runningralph]

deathofusa, You could be right, but I don''t think so. All he took from me was a bottle of beer. There were 30 or forty people around all black and he didn''t bother anyone else. Whatever his reason it was another black on white crime. I truly hope Mr. Holder or Obama can do something about it. Let''s see some of that "change we can believe in."

[endrepubs]

That is not his job to right racial wrongs. He and Obama are in positions of power now so what wrong can he right?

[deathofusa]

Everybody agreed that the only reason for the crime was because I am white.
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Posted by runningralph at 04:54 PM : Feb 05, 2009


I don''t agree with you. He robbed you because he is a thief. It didn''t matter what color your skin was. He''s a thief and he is going to take what he wants.