The Justice Department and FBI need to continually work on the relationship with the Arab-American and Muslim communities no matter how strained things get. It’s good for both sides. And no better place to make a speech like this than in the Detroit area, home to one of the largest, if not thee largest, Arab-American populations in the country.
DETROIT — Reaching out to Arab Americans and Muslims, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a Detroit speech Thursday night that their full rights must be protected as the country battles security threats.
“This is not blind adherence to political correctness,” Holder told hundreds at the Detroit Marriott in the Renaissance Center. “It is devotion to our founding documents.”
He said that it’s vital that all ethnic and religious groups in America be treated equally. He also said racial profiling was bad policy that breeds mistrust and division.
“For the last nine months, I’ve heard from Muslim and Arab Americans who feel uneasy about their relationship with their government, who feel isolated and discriminated against by law enforcement,” Holder said. “It is inconsistent with what America is all about.”
