Eric Holder, Sean Bell & The Legacy of Al Sharpton
By C.B. Forde
On Tuesday, February 16th 2010, the Justice Department announced that there was not enough evidence to prosecute the New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers involved in the slaughter of Sean Bell for violating his civil rights. While many of my fellow African Americans are probably disappointed in Eric Holder, (America?s first Black Attorney General), I am not. After reading the official statement given by the Justice Department, I must say that I was impressed by the way the situation was handled. I was impressed that representatives of the Justice Department met with the family to explain why they could not move forward. While I feel strongly that the death of Sean Bell was a heinous crime and violation of his human rights, it was not a violation of his civil rights. The problem here is that people do not understand the difference and Al Sharpton is either incapable of or has no desire to articulate the difference. Al Sharpton has been the most visible civil rights activist for the last two decades. However, it seems that he is more interested in the change in his pocket rather than changing the legal system
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