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Attorney General Eric Holder got himself virtually muzzled early in President Obamas first term, when he called the U.S. a nation of cowards for our inability to deal frankly with issues of race. On his way out the door, hes not worried about his critics. He told MSNBCs Joy Reid that ongoing troubles in limiting police violence mean we, as a nation, have failed. Its as simple as that. We have failed.

Its a grim verdict, but its hard to quarrel. Holder was a deputy U.S. attorney back in 2001, when the Justice Department announced it would not prosecute the New York police officers who famously fired 41 shots at unarmed immigrant Amadou Diallo, hitting him 19 times. Though Justice concluded it couldnt make a civil rights case against the officers, Holder warned at the time: We must learn from this deeply troubling incident. Mr. Diallo, an unarmed individual who committed no crime and no act of aggression, unnecessarily lost his life.

Now, 13 years later, similar deeply troubling incidents still occur regularly, and theyve touched off a new movement for reform. While Holder speaks in measured ways, throughout the interview, about the mutual distrust between police and communities of color, and the work the Justice Department is doing to bridge those gaps, he places himself within the national reform movement. For a while he uses they when talking about protesters, but then he shifts significantly to we.

Thats all were asking for just make the nation better, he tells Reid. And the interview wraps.

On the same day the president opened up to People and said Theres no black male my age, whos a professional who hasnt been mistaken for a parking valet, Holders exit interview shows a new comfort with candor about race in Obamas second term. It may make heads on the right explode, but so be it. Michelle Malkin is already howling about first lady Michelle Obamas story of being mistaken for a store clerk by a Target shopper on her incognito trip there in 2011.

In the interview with Reid which is running in New York magazine and airing on The Reid Report Holder talks passionately about voting rights setbacks in recent years, calling out the Republican Party for its support of voter suppression measures, while praising GOP Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner for his work to restore the Voting Rights Act.

This is a gut check for the Republican Party. Where do you stand? Are you gonna be true to the values and the history of a great party? Or are you gonna do something that, in the short term, is politically expedient but that, ultimately, you will find historically shameful?

He says he trusts his chosen successor, deputy U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch, to continue his pursuit of voting rights violations though at least one Republican, Sen. David Vitter, has vowed to block Lynch because of the presidents moves on immigration.

While Holder uses his elbows when it comes to issues, hes diplomatic on the topic of whether race has been a factor in his tough relationship with the House GOP.

Hard to say. I mean, the attorney general seems to be, lately, the person, whether you are white, black, Republican, Democrat, who catches a lot of grief. So theres that thats just a part of the position.

Originally posted here:
Eric Holders parting shot: Police abuse scandals mean the nation has failed