Earlier this week, new Attorney General Eric Holder delivered an interesting speech on race. In case you missed it, the video is below and you can read the full text here.

From MoveSmart.org's perspective, there were a number of disappointing elements of the speech. First, Holder didn't directly address residential ethnic and racial segregation - especially the incredibly high black-white segregation that plagues many urban areas. While his commentary on "race protected coccoons" and the below snippet tiptoed around the issue, we had hoped he would tackle it head-on:

On Saturdays and Sundays America in the year 2009 does not, in some ways, differ significantly from the country that existed some fifty years ago. This is truly sad. Given all that we as a nation went through during the civil rights struggle it is hard for me to accept that the result of those efforts was to create an America that is more prosperous, more positively race conscious and yet is voluntarily socially segregated.

His characterization of segregation as "voluntary" is both surprising and disappointing. It is the responsibility of the federal government to enforce civil rights laws, including the Fair Housing Act (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964). Researchers agree that while it doesn't fully explain the severe degree of American segregation, discrimination in the real estate industry does play a large role. Ignoring its role in creating those "race protected cocoons" is a mistake.

On her blog The Kitchen Table (highly recommended), Princeton professor Melissa Harris Lacewell nails it in her post Why Eric Holder's Race Speech was a Failure:

But ultimately, Eric Holder's discussion of race in America was a failure. It failed because Holder spoke more like a grade school principal than like the attorney general of the United States. He framed our nation's continuing racial work as a struggle to feel comfortable, be tolerant, and have "frank conversations about racial matters."

I appreciate the sentiment, but I would prefer Holder use the Department of Justice to sue those who illegally discriminate against racial minorities rather than holding encounter sessions in the lunchroom.

Given the historical role of the federal government in promoting and encouraging residential segregation, and its duty under the Fair Housing Act to "affirmatively further fair housing", it is especially disappointing that Holder's speech seemed to ignore the modern implications of past discrimination. Simply having a conversation about race - as productive as they may be - will not create integrated communities. Aggressive prosecution of illegal discrimination combined with policies that incentivize integration and educate housing seekers about their full range of choices are required.

For a rather different take on Holder's speech, make sure to read Rinku Sen's It Takes a Nation of Cowards to Prove Eric Holder Right.

What did you think of Holder's speech? Let us know in the comments.