The Atlantic - Latest Comments in The thing about Eric Holder

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

jacobli_2281 — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:18:25 -0000

there is an amazing news....

a woman in the --interracialromancing.com said she have ever been the Obama's girlfriend and she wants to extort money from the president... how about going to chat with her and stop his crazy mind...

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

Jason — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:37:41 -0000

> the South Side of Chicago, the historic economic and political power center of black America

Yep! John Rogers, Jr., friend of the Obamas:

“When you remember that there have been just three African-American senators since Reconstruction, it tells you something that two of them, Barack and Carol Moseley Braun, came from Hyde Park.” (link)

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

Cash — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:48:13 -0000

Y'know, I've been reading about Holder on the web for three or four days now, hearing this and that about his opinions on Gitmo and wiretapping and so on...

Somehow this is the FIRST time I've run across any mention that he's black.

So if it's a sign of progress that a "first black ___" storyline can get buried under the discussion of what the ___ in question is actually likely to do as ___, I guess we're progressing.

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

WestIndianArchie — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:13:07 -0000

As has been said in other places, this is a power grab from the native born Af-Am's to the foreign born Af-Am's.

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

rikyrah — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:40:38 -0000

...I mean, besides this being the first step in Barack Obama's plan to institute a Mugabe-style transfer of wealth to the ghettos of America.

why you scaring White folk like that.

LOL

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

kd — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:27:02 -0000

@Jason--I think having multiple black faces in the administration will still be incredibly refreshing. Imagine a photo of Obama and Holder meeting with, say, Valerie Jarrett and Joe Biden and Sec. of State Hillary. All that power, and just one white man in the bunch! When have we ever seen that before?

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

Jason — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:30:36 -0000

After Obama, do you think anyone is ever going to care about a "first African-American" story again?

I mean, now that Obama is president, the idea that it's a big deal to be the first black AG just doesn't titilate like it use to, you know? The ceiling is broken.

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

marcus — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:41:35 -0000

One overlooked point my girlfriend noted from her time as a defense laywer:

there are three pictures hanging in federal prison, the president, the vice president and the attorney general.

that image alone will have some impact on those on the inside.

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

LonBecker — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:53:29 -0000

The striking thing about the Holder pick is that he is the competent non-political choice. He was, after all, the deputy attorney general in the last Democratic administration. There are many flashier more political choices that could be made with one of Obama's most high profile appointments. And, as Pat Buchanan correctly pointed out, at some point among the team of rivals appointments Obama really should pick someone in the truly liberal camp, but Holder is not that pick.

This was a choice of competence over politics (in the position which most presidents most want to have someone to politically cover their ass). And the fact that Holder is black really does seem besides the point here. Not that it is irrelevant for historical purposes, but that it is irrelevant to why he is natural person to get the job.

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

blacksmythe — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:33:44 -0000

Is the implication that we don't vote already?

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

Allan — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:33:12 -0000

What excites me about Eric Holder (besides his views on torture and civil liberties) is that, when I first heard about him, the blog I was reading (Sullivan) didn't feel obligated to point out that Holder was the first black AG, or even that he was black. I always feel like "first black [/female/gay/...] XXX" accolades are a double-edged sword, characterizing the annointee as a weirdo or outsider in his/her new role. But now that we will have a black President, a black AG doesn't seem so strange anymore... and we take another step forward.

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

MikeSchilling — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:26:25 -0000

Indeed, the city of Chicago, itself, was discovered by a biracial black man.

"Founded", perhaps?

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

Denene@MyBrownBaby — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:18:11 -0000

They're also markers of what Negroes can--and HAVE been doing--period. Thanks to them, a light is being shined on the BEST of us, instead of the WORST of us. For this, I'm grateful.

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

Ta-Nehisi Coates — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:09:30 -0000

Jay,

Thanks for that drug war tip. I'm going to look into it.

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

Green — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:55:55 -0000

Whenever I see that "how far black people have come" statement, I think, not really. I mean black people have always been here, just as talented, fighting just as hard for a piece of the pie. Really, black voter turnout has usually been pretty good in the past...

To me Obama really says much more about how far the country as a whole has come than it does about black people in specific.

I know, you said something like that, but I wanted to make the distinction.

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

Paul Gilmartin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:45:30 -0000

If he is against inhumane treatment of prisoners and warrantless wiretaps then he has my vote!

With regard to him being an African-American, there will be plenty of haters on the right saying that this is the reason Obama picked him. What's funny, though, is the fact that many on the right see a black man appointed to a position of power and their first thought is "he doesn't belong there, he must have been given the job because he's black'.

Obama was not elected because he's African American and Holder was not selected because he's African American. Another thing I like about this selection is that it shows Obama to be color-blind.

Re: The thing about Eric Holder

Jaybird — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:38:55 -0000

Look at Holder's history on the Drug War.

The Drug War is one of the things doing the most damage to the inner city... and I fear that Holder is going to be indistinguishable from his predecessors on the issue.