UBSPECTRUM.COM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2017
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Spectrum’s
Q&A with Eric Holder
Former Attorney General sits down with The Spectrum ASHLEY INKUMSAH SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder sat down with The Spectrum for a Q&A session before he spoke at UB’s Distinguished Speaker Series on Thursday night. Holder spoke about his early life, gave advice to college students looking to invoke political change on campus and discussed his major gripes with President Donald Trump’s administration.
school. My mother was a high school graduate and they insisted that their sons take school seriously and they constantly drummed into our heads the notion that ‘if you want to get ahead
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you’ve got to do well in school.’ I think that there is this mistaken belief that you have to go to [several] schools if you want to be a success but the reality is when I was in the United States Department of Justice, I met people from all around the country who had gone to a whole bunch of different schools who went on to become great prosecutors, judges and who were totally successful in life. You also have to understand that this is a good institution. This is a very, very good school and I would hope that the students here don’t think they are at an institution that should feel second to any other. This is a great place to go to school. Q: Was it difficult being a person of color in a predominantly white university? A: I went to Columbia and I started in
1969 until 1973 and there were not that many black students on campus, which forced us together. There were probably 30 or 40 [black students] in my class. Some of
Q: You were born in The Bronx and raised in Queens New York. You eventually earned your B.A. and J.D. from Columbia University. How did your early upbringings lead you to where you are today? Do you think students who come from non-Ivy League schools like UB can achieve the same success? A: I’m originally born and raised in New
York City. Born in the Bronx and lived most of my life in Queens with West Indian parents who insisted that education was the key to success. My father didn’t graduate from high
TROY WACHALA, THE SPECTRUM
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder sat down with The Spectrum before Thursday’s Distinguished Speaker Series.
Movement over a moment Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at UB ASHLEY INKUMSAH
SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
Eric Holder’s biggest fear growing up was Raymond Ellis, the neighborhood thug. “That threat growing up of violence [when] going to the park to play basketball, to play softball or baseball was always that thing growing up in your subconscious,” Holder said. “You’re afraid about running into somebody or something and I wasn’t a fighter. I wasn’t the guy who was taking anyone on. I always tried to talk my way out of stuff.” Holder, the 82nd U.S. Attorney General and first black Attorney General, grew up in a lower-middle class neighborhood in Queens, NY with parents who emigrated from Barbados. When Holder heard that Ellis was shot and killed in a robbery attempt a few blocks away from his house, his fear turned into bravery. His childhood always reminded him how other children of color felt every day. Once he became attorney general, he knew that his primary responsibility was public safety.
“[I had to make sure that] the child living in South Central Los Angeles, Chicago or some place in New York, didn’t have that same fear that might’ve had an impact on his or her ability to maximize their potential. I tried never ever to forget that.” Holder said. Holder spoke as the 41st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Keynote Speaker as a part of UB’s Distinguished Speaker Series on Thursday night. Holder told several jokes throughout the night, often sounding more like a friend than a politician. He gave a brief speech then took questions from interim Law School dean James Gardner and former law school dean and distinguished law professor Makau Mutua, who sat on stage beside him for the entire night. Holder also answered questions from students at the event and took questions via Twitter. He joked that because he’s no longer apart of the Obama Administration, he could say “whatever he wants” and encouraged the audience to ask him anything. Holder delved into politics but also discussed his early life growing up in New York City. He talked about blacks people’s
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relations with law enforcement, safe spaces and free speech. Holder also held an informal session on Thursday afternoon where he answered questions from a crowd of predominantly law students and took selfies with them once the session concluded. A student asked Holder about the role of free speech in college settings, specifically referencing the violent protests that emerged
whom became lifelong friends, but there was this sense that we were in the college experience together. We socialized together. We found ways to interact with other students on the campus while at the same time maintaining our own identities as African American students. I would say we almost created a community within the larger community and I would say that was the way we really got through it. Q: Student protests have recently spilled out across the country, particularly in the wake of President Trump’s executive orders. Do you think student protests help bring about change? What makes protests successful? A: I think people underestimate the pow-
er of protests. In my time in college, we were protesting the Vietnam War and I would say the war was ended as a result of the protest that happened. I think it started maybe among young people but then spread into the general population. President Nixon made a calculation that the war could not be contained because there was such popular discontent and I think people have to understand and remember that example that people united around an idea that might be contrary to the views of the government can influence the policy-making, the decisions the government makes. Numbers [make protests successful.] To get as many people involved as you can and then consistency and perseverance. You can’t just show up one weekend and think that even if you have a substantial number of people that that’s going to be a successful protest or that’s going to actually foment positive change. You have to have something that’s going to last a period of time, that’s going to persevere through the ups and downs. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
at UC Berkeley when controversial journalist Milo Yiannopoulos was pegged to speak. “Well let me start this way, Milo whatever his last name is, is an idiot,” Holder said to a roaring applause. “He’s an idiot, I disagree with him, he’s a provocateur, he’s not sincere in his beliefs and yet if we are going to be true to our First Amendment and the right of people to engage, he should have been allowed to speak. We have to have that safe space.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
TROY WACHALA, THE SPECTRUM
Shantese Wilkinson, graduate student in the Transnational Studies Department, takes a selfie with Eric Holder.
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