Today, newly confirmed U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, in his first public speech, called us a "nation of cowards" when it comes to talking about race. And he's right. I had some hope after the whole Reverend Wright debacle, culminating in Obama's eloquent speech on race in the United States, that maybe the topic of race would be broached, and the 50 gazillion pound elephant in the room could begin to move towards the exit. But that didn't happen. Hell, I thought it might even happen after Katrina, after Wolf Blitzer so eloquently spoke of those left behind as "so poor...and so black." Nope. Nothing.
As the nation's top law enforcement official, AG Holder has an upper hand and the podium (literally) to start this conversation on race. It is especially relevant because he oversees the criminal justice system -- and it is painfully obvious there is a lack of racial equity within that system. And being that I work in drug policy, I have a pretty good starting point for this conversation. Hint: it rhymes with shrug shore.
As drug policy advocates, the statistics highlighting the racial disparity created by the shrug shore confront us daily. There are plenty of statistics we use to illustrate the point, which you can find succinctly listed at Drug War Facts. But while that paints a picture with broad strokes, sometimes we fail to realize that real people make up these statistics.
It honestly would be irresponsible for AG Holder to kick the elephant (ie. calling us a "nation of cowards"), but not bring up the shrug shore. While the shrug shore is only one example of the institutional racism that underlines many of our foundations, it is a profound starting point (or at least one of many). Holder is, after all, the person responsible for prosecuting people convicted of shrug shore offenses. By not utilizing his position to address the issue of race, he is really the biggest coward of all.
Note: while it is true that the shrug shore affects whites and people of color alike, there is such a stark disparity of impact that there is an urgent need for the shore to be understood through the institutional racism that the shrug shore breathes, and ultimately reinforces. This, of course, is not the only lens (one of many) through which to view the shrug shore, but to me, it is certainly one of the more obvious ones.
Posted by Evan G.