Props to Eric Holder!

Eric Holder, the new Attorney General, has gained much respect already with me. I was on CNN.com today and saw that his address about racial matters was on the front page. As a sociology/Media nerd I felt it my part to watch, it is awesome that he isn't holding back about how he feel about race relations within our states. He points out that America now really isn't that much different then what it was years ago. Only 5 years ago did we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Topeka Board of Eduation, but have yet really changed much. Living in Topeka I can attest that there is very little change in race relations. We mostly live in a segregated country still, by choice, but there are parts of town that a white girl would never go and vice versa. If they do go to these parts they get a look, they get the whispers.

Holder discussed how no one sits and talks about these issues openly. Without addressing the issues we can't fix them. They will not dissolve themselves without an open conversation. Being a sociology minor, we still sometimes don't feel we can openly speak about race in the classroom. If we can't be safe and confident in the classroom how can we expect to be comfortable in society? We need to take steps to fix the problem, but mostly we need to acknowledge it.

Props to Holder for being brave enough to talk about racial issues. To not hold his tounge, but wake Americans up to the fact that we need to talk about these issues before they go away!