Are we really cowards when it comes to talking about race?

In his first speech as Attorney General, and in celebration of Black History Month, Eric H. Holder Jr. called the US “essentially a nation of cowards” when it comes to race relations and that, "we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race." He then went on to say that we should use Black History Month as a way of starting a more candid and forthright conversation about race relations here in the US since even though there is less segregation in the work place, there continues to be a lack of communication between the races outside of the workplace.

OK, in general I find this message to be good and worthwhile. Yes we need to have more candid conversations about race in the US, yes people do mostly hang out with people of the same racial/ethnic background, and yes it would be great if not only people hung out more with people of different backgrounds, but also talked to each other about what it means to be from different backgrounds. What I have a problem with is the fact that he completely overshadowed his very good point by calling us all cowards. Was that actually necessary? Was it a ploy to get bloggers such as myself to write about his point and get more press for it? Are we really a nation of cowards? or is it that people naturally flock to people like themselves and dislike conflict? What do you think fair blog readers?


NYT Opinion Piece

Washington Post Piece