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Eric Holder departure from Obama administration creates void on civil rights issues
An emotional Eric Holder (r) standing with U.S. President Barack Obama (l) during the announcement of his (Holder’s) resignation. PHOTO/Associated Press
The departure of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder deprives the Obama administration of a powerful voice on civil rights at a time when riots in Ferguson, Missouri, have thrust the issue into the spotlight.
Civil rights advocates fear his exit leaves a hard-to-fill hole on Obama’s team when it comes to events such as in Ferguson, where days of protests followed the fatal police shooting of an unarmed African American teenager, and challenging laws in some states requiring voters to show photo identification, measures that Holder has said would prevent African American and Latino voters from going to the polls.
They are worried that his work on voting rights, sentencing reform, and addressing racial profiling measures used by police could fall by the wayside when his yet-to-be-determined successor sets a new set of priorities – particularly as the administration focuses on counter-terrorism and the threat posed by Islamic State militants.
“We always thought that he was able to say the things that Obama could not say,” said Barbara Arnwine, president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. “We have always seen him as an important spokesperson for the administration and that role should not go unfulfilled.”
In a speech choked with emotion on Thursday, Holder recounted how he had been part of Team Obama since his friend was a “young senator from Illinois” making “an improbable, idealistic effort” to become president.
Obama stuck with Holder even as he became a lightning rod for Republican criticism of his administration. “We have been great colleagues, but the bonds between us are much deeper than that. In good times and in bad, in things personal and in things professional, you have been there for me,” Holder said to Obama.
Over the years, both men have spoken about racism they have experienced in their own lives. Before he became the first black president of the United States, Obama wrote “Dreams from My Father,” a memoir on racial identity. But since taking office, he has often shied away from talking publicly about race.
