The Activist

an excerpt from a larger Democracy Now interview

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about just this latest news that came out last night—of course, not the official announcement, but Eric Holder, the former deputy attorney general under President Clinton, being tapped as the next attorney general, if confirmed?

CORNEL WEST: Well, two things. First, on a personal level, I know Brother Eric Holder. I’ve spent good time with him in meetings and so on. He’s a brilliant lawyer. He’s a very decent human being. I know he was very upset about Clinton’s attitude toward crime. We know during the Clinton administration we got the tightening of the mandatory sentences that’s had devastating effects on poor communities, especially disproportionately black and brown poor communities. And Eric took a strong stand in that regard. I appreciate that, because there’s a sense that we kind of whitewash the Clinton administration—welfare bill, crime, deregulation and so forth. We’ve got to be honest about some of the flaws during the age of Reagan and the Clinton moments during the age of Reagan. And Eric did take a stand.

On the other hand, of course, I’m sure I have some disagreements with him. But I am a little suspicious, in fact, highly suspicious, of the degree to which my dear Brother Barack Obama seems to be recycling all of these Clintonites. I’m looking for an age of everyday people, not a Clintonite recycling in this new period. And so, I’m a little bit suspicious of this, though I think Eric Holder is much better than many of the other Clintonites that’s being recycled.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, let me ask you about this comment of Mario Murillo, who’s a professor at Hofstra, talking about Eric Holder. You know, he worked as a partner at the D.C. law firm of Covington & Burling.

CORNEL WEST: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: His clients included Chiquita.

CORNEL WEST: Yes, I heard that.

AMY GOODMAN: Last week, we reached Mario in Colombia, and he talked about Holder’s representation of Chiquita.

MARIO MURILLO: There’s been talk about a close ally and friend of Obama as a potential Attorney General for the United States, Eric Holder, who is currently defending Chiquita Brands International in its defense against dozens of plaintiffs here in Colombia, working families who were targeted by paramilitaries who were funded to the tune of $1.7 million over the last several years. It’s a major scandal. And if this guy becomes the Attorney General under an Obama administration, then it’s going to be really hard to find justice in this case coming from the United States.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Mario Murillo in Colombia. Professor Cornel West?

CORNEL WEST: Yeah, no, again, this is one of the reasons why we love the work that you do, Sister Amy. This is the first that I’ve heard of this. I would want to hear from my dear Brother Eric and see what he has to say. Now, we know, of course, so many of these corporate firms, they defend all kind of different elites in various parts of the world, and we want to know the degree to which Eric Holder personally and politically and ideologically supports the kind of things going on, as opposed to the kind of role that one plays within a legal firm. Oftentimes, these firms take stances that are not in agreement with the individual lawyers themselves. You know that lawyers take a variety of different cases. It could be criminals and a whole host of others. Lawyers tend to go where they are told. But I would want to hear what Brother Eric Holder has to say about this. This is very interesting, actually.