Eric Holder’s accusation that “America is a nation of cowards when it comes to issues of race” is true. But the suggestion that that cowardice is demonstrated by whites only is the big fiction.
Very few Blacks I’ve ever spoken to have ever been willing to address Black failure to thrive. Those issues must ALWAYS presuppose some failure on the part of Whites to place obstacles in the way. The conversation must ALWAYS begin first and foremost with, “...yeah, but you white people...” It never gets to the heart of the matter: What are YOU going to do?
I’ve shared this before: My wife is a Black woman from Trinidad (I am white). She came to this country from a homeland where she grew up living in a dirt floor “hut”, walking 4 miles to school each day, etc., was shipped up here by her mother, struggled to get her high school education in an inner city school, took a series jobs after school (always improving her situation), went to college, studied to be a nurse, and is currently one of the most respected (and probably most envied) nurses where she works.
For her, it wasn’t about being black; it was about having a vision, being willing to work toward that goal (ignoring any/all opposition/road blocks) and achieving — the same path that we all must follow if we want to succeed in life.