After years of causing angst for White House political aides by delving into issues of race, Attorney General Eric Holder is heading to Ferguson, Missouri, as President Barack Obama's top emissary. The trip on Wednesday to the St. Louis suburb now in the spotlight represents the latest effort by the Obama administration to find a way to calm racial tensions following the police shooting of Michael Brown, 18. Under Holder, the first black attorney general, the Justice Department has intensified its scrutiny of police departments, launching 20 investigations of police practices and alleged discriminatory enforcement patterns in the past five years.
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Attorney General Eric Holder heads to Ferguson, Missouri, on Wednesday
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The Justice Department has launched a civil rights investigation of the Ferguson shooting
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Michael Brown, an African-American, was shot and killed by a white police officer
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Protests continue with some erupting into violence on the streets of Ferguson
While those efforts have the backing of @placeholder, Holder's public views on the issue of race haven't always been welcome for the White House.