Eric Holder Says He Has Been Racially Profiled
EmailIt is not often that the nation's new Attorney General Eric Holder sits down for an interview. ABC's Pierre Thomas talked with him today about homegrown terror and other pressing issues including how best to deal with detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
But then the subject turned to the issue of race and the arrest of Harvard Professor Luis Gates. Holder said that he had himself been racially profiled.
"I was a young college student driving from New York to Washington, stopped on a highway and told to open the trunk of my car, because the police officer told me he wanted to search it for weapons." Holder continued, "I remember, as I got back in the car and continued on my journey how humiliated I felt, how angry I got."
Pierre Thomas asked the nation's top cop if law enforcement in America today is color blind?
"No, not yet," said Holder. "But I think we're certainly in a much better place than we were. I think work remains. But there also is work that needs to be done in communities of color where I think people too often want to assume that the police or people in law enforcement are doing the wrong thing, see police policies, law enforcement policies as, you know, misguided or directed only at people of color, when in fact, you know, that's not the case."
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
I was somewhat ammused by the attorney general’s comments about being racially profiled when he was in college. I do not doubt his accusation at all, but by my math, was that not probably thirty years ago? Is it not time he let the incident go and acknowledge that our society has made significant strides in this area over thity years. Maybe more in the current administration should take a more colorblind approach to addressing today’s critical issues that will affect the general electorate with a disregard as to what race of people will benefit the most.
Posted by: Stuart | July 29, 2009, 7:30 pm 7:30 pm
Attorney General Holder was quite correct in stating that we have a long way to go, regarding racial profiling and/or racial preferencing by some law enforcement.
I had been physically attacked on October 19th, 2008 in Suffolk County, New York, a place where even the Govenor of New York, David Paterson, called, ‘…one of the more racist of the counties in New York State.’
The entire attack, on Oct. 19th, 2008 had been accidentally tape recorded.
The Suffolk County Police, and the District Attorney have refused to charge the assailant. I have also received threats that if I do not drop the matter, I would be jailed.
I had been arrested, and was jailed.
Yes, A.G. Holder, we do have a very long way to go.
Posted by: Joseph Hernandez | July 29, 2009, 7:41 pm 7:41 pm
I, too, was racially profiled, I thought, as a US NAVY sailor(Fitron 84, NAS OCEANA) heading home from Va Beach to take my belongings home to central PA before a 9 month deployment on the US NIMITZ in 1978, I was stopped by Wilmington’s finest at midnight, as I detoured off route 7 to catch route 41, and told to exit my car by gunpoint, then patted down. The police officer then searched my possessions, asked me a million questions, ie. what all this stuff was, where was I coming from, where I was going?? I even had to call my duty officer to vouch for my written leave orders which I has previously showed the police officer. I finally was allow to continue home. No apologies given, and I was as angry as one would be expected to be…… The police officer was black, I was white. I later found out that a armed robbery took place that night with a similar make and model car involved. I caution anyone who heard the AG Holder’s story, in anger, it may not always be a subject of black and white, maybe sometimes it is not racial profiling, maybe there was a real reason you never come to know. I would appreciate if ABC would cover these racial charged stories in a less bias, more insightful way. Thank you.
Posted by: Mike Tranquillo | July 29, 2009, 8:01 pm 8:01 pm
it is interesting how these stories seem to be popping up after Obama’s mistaken accusations with regard to Gates arrest. Can Holder provide any documentation of this incident? Or can the police department provide any paperwork, records, reports of this incident? If such a search was taken the officer likely had some records of it- at least a call into dispatch about stopping a suspicious car. Please release the records so we can valid this claims….that seem to be very conveniently timed to take heat off Obama’s comments (and Gates’ allegations).
Posted by: Ed | July 29, 2009, 9:59 pm 9:59 pm
I was stopped in 2000 by hwy patrol near St. Louis driving from Seattle. I had Wa. plates and an NRA bumper sticker. He said I was driving too slow. Ha! Then he asked me if I had any legal/illegal drugs and any legal/illegal guns. I don’t do drugs,but I told him I had my unloaded S&W pistol in the back of my truck. He asked me how would I like it if He searched my truck? I would not like it, I told him. He explained that he was just doing his job. He had me walk over to an O’Fallon police officer’s car and wait. I refused to get into the back seat to wait, and told the officer that if I was going to be arrested i’ll get in the back seat after he read the Miranda to me. I watched the hwy patrol officer search everywhere and of course found nothing. He ran the number on my pistol to see of it was stolen. I was told later by an ex police officer that “I was lucky”. Not quit sure why he said that, I did nothing illegal and was not ticketed. I also found out later that there is a lot of drug traffic on hwy 70 and my out of state plates would be suspect. I was angry that my truck was searched, but I remained fairly calm, even though I was angry about it.
Posted by: Michele | July 29, 2009, 10:46 pm 10:46 pm
I forgot to say I am a 55 year old caucasian woman from out West, and both officers were caucasian. I don’t think it is always clear why you are being stopped. I was told that police do have a right to search your vehicle without a search warrant. I think I handled the situation well.
Posted by: Michele | July 29, 2009, 10:52 pm 10:52 pm
Anyone aware of what goes on in our society can deny that profiling doesn’t exist. But it’s not a one race issue, it happens to us all.
I’m a caucasian living in southern Texas along the Mexican border where the majority here are hispanic. I’m profiled here. I’m a minority here.
It is the way it is. It isn’t a perfect world.
Posted by: Larry | July 29, 2009, 10:59 pm 10:59 pm
My opinion of Piere Thomas’ reporting and that of ABC World News was a good deal more positive before this evening’s newscast. Elizabeth Vargas’ lead in and Thomas interview with Attorney General Holder seemed to deliberately reinforce the unproven allegation that the Cambridge incident with Prof. Gates was a case of racial profiling. Holder opined that “he too had suffered from racial profiing. Really? When was it established that the Gates/Cambridge inciddent was a case of racial profiling? Holder’s boss, the President, acknowledged that he did not have the facts when he waded into the matter and has all but apologized for his “stupidity” remark. Does the Attorney General have facts which indicate there was indeed racial profiling? If so why not share them with the public? Perhaps Mr. Thomas will next do a piece on this matter when the facts are in. And, perhaps ABC World News will also hype that story in its billboard as it did the misleading Holder “I too was profiled” piece. Perhaps when Charles Gibson returns to anchor the show ABC will not promote misleading reports on raciallly sensitive subjects. It would help to restore my formerly relatively positive view of ABC World News.
Posted by: Amber | July 29, 2009, 11:56 pm 11:56 pm
We need to explain to Eric Holder that NOBODY should have to submit to a search of their car, no matter WHAT color they are!
The Supreme Court goes back and forth. They did rule that a car cannot be searched in Arizona vs Gant in April 2009.
We should pass laws to prohibit the police from searching in violation of the 4th Amendment.
Harland Harrison
Libertarian Party of San Mateo County CA
Posted by: Harland Harrison | July 30, 2009, 12:30 am 12:30 am
Why can’t those who are not of color understand that significant but unexplainable events happen to people of color with the only feasible explanation is color? Things like youth, sex, region, education all have universal life bias and prejudice; but being targeted for just by being black is an unexplainable and unnecessary.
Posted by: Thomas Hines | July 30, 2009, 11:07 am 11:07 am
When Mr. Holder was in college many years back, any college student (or those that looked like one) were profiled not because of their races but because they looked like college students – spaced outs and drug addled!
Posted by: ErnieNucup | July 30, 2009, 2:11 pm 2:11 pm
So have I…..but I am caucasian, so I have to grin and bear it.
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | July 30, 2009, 5:45 pm 5:45 pm
Ed | Jul 29, 2009 9:59:10 PM,
some folks like this person Ed does not get it, do you really think every thing is documented by bigot minded officers when they’re violating a black mans rights, their main purpose to to humiliate us in the best way they possibly can especially back in the day of Mr Holder? try to be a black person for a day or two and try driving through a town call Skokie in Illinois, maybe it’s not as bad today as it was it the late 80s.
Posted by: DocP | July 31, 2009, 8:53 am 8:53 am
To those out there who do NOT recognize that racial profiling exists: try taking your experience to certain places in the country, for example, immigrant neighborhoods and also urban areas. Race is often an issue when it comes to profiling, the police use it, target people of color, and antagonize/brutalize immigrant neighborhoods.
See cases: Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, Oscar Grant, Kenny Lazo.
I am a researcher currently working on police brutality in our country. If you have a story of being brutalized and you would like to share it, please email me and I will get in contact with you.
If we do not make aware the rising issue of police brutality, one day they’ll come for you and no one will be there to help you and defend you.
Peace,
O.A
Posted by: OA | March 1, 2010, 10:57 am 10:57 am