Former Attorney General Eric Holder, speaking on national television, said people should take to the streets to protest voting laws being passed throughout the nation.
Holder made the comments in an interview on MSNBC's ''Rachel Maddow Show'' on Thursday.
''Power cedes nothing without a demand,'' he said. ''And we too often underestimate the power that we have as regular American citizens by marching, by protesting, by raising our voices. If we make our voices known, if we demand the kind of change, the fair change that we're seeking, I think it will help in the process.
''It's not going to probably move Republicans,'' Holder continued. ''I'm being realistic about that. On the other hand, Democrats are going to have to think to themselves, 'Do I want to be seen as the person who James Eastland ... those people before, who stood against the passage of [the] civil fights bill? Do I want to have that as my legacy?'
''If you asked people in the 1950s: 'Do you think marching, demonstrating is going to bring down a system of American apartheid?' You probably would have said, 'That's just not going to happen.' And we should not lose faith right now.
"Citizens can make a change. Citizens need to be in the streets. Citizens need to be demonstrating, citizens need to be calling representatives to demand the time of change that will make this country more representative, make our democracy more fair,'' Holder said.
The Daily Caller noted the Republican-controlled Texas Senate voted Thursday to advance its election bill. Among other requirements, the legislation would require voters to show identification.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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