Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to swipe at Donald Trump’s presidential campaign slogan, saying, “Donald! America is already a great nation.”
“I am proud to say ‘I’m with Her!'” Holder said, “because I’ve seen that she has the skills to serve as commander in chief – and the strength to lead our already-great nation in this hour of challenge and consequence.”
“Donald, did you hear me?” Holder belted, “already a great nation!”
Holder assured the crowd that despite what some citizens believe, “black lives matter.” He also insisted that “there should be no tension between protecting those who valiantly risk their lives to serve and ensuring that everyone is treated fairly by police.”
Holder said he’s “profoundly aware that an attack on a police officer anywhere is an attack on our entire society. So it is not enough for us to praise law enforcement after cops are killed. We must protect them, value them – and equip them with the right tools, tactics, and training – while they are still alive.”
“Keeping our officers safe,” Holder added, “is not inconsistent with ensuring that those in law enforcement treat the people they are sworn to serve with dignity, respect, and fairness.”
Holder went on to describe how America’s “justice system is out of balance, when one in three black men will be incarcerated in their lifetimes, and when black defendants in the federal system receive sentences 20 percent longer than their white peers.”
“We need a president who will end this policy of over-incarceration,” Holder said, while ironically failing to mention that it was Bill Clinton’s 1994 crime bill that helped create that “over-incarceration.”
Holder also encouraged the crowd to support Hillary Clinton because “the right to vote is under siege” by Republicans who “brazenly assault the most fundamental right of our democracy – passing laws designed to stop people from voting, while closing locations in minority neighborhoods where people get the documents they need to vote – we need a president sensitive to these echoes of Jim Crow.”
Holder’s mention of Jim Crow failed to included the fact that it was the Democratic party that passed Jim Crow laws to keep blacks in the south in a sense of virtual slavery.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson
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