MSNBC Guest: Black Lives ‘at Risk’ Due to GOP Holding up Loretta Lynch Nomination

HARRIS-PERRY: "Vince, what is going on?"
VINCE WARREN (executive director at the Center for Constitutional Rights): "This is crazy. As you laid out, holding the chief, uh, position, law position in the country, during the time when we have -- one of the emerging issues that we have now, is the state of race relations with the police department, where we have, police officers are getting shot, protesters are getting tear gassed. This is going back to the 1960s. And to hold this position hostage at this particular time, it's a tremendous problem, a tremendous problem."

... "The problem that we're seeing here, that both in the context [indecipherable] nomination and Loretta Lynch's, is that we now have eminently qualified people of color that are necessary to lead our country through the justice path that we actually have right now. And these are being blocked by political and partisan pieces -- no question about it.

"But also, it reminds me of Loretta Lynch's story, do you remember? When she was in high school, North Carolina, she was the valedictorian, and as the valedictorian, scored higher than anybody. And through these bureaucratic means, she was not allowed to shine as the valedictorian, and they had two other white students that had to be valedictorian with her, because the world wasn't ready for a strong, smart, qualified black girl to lead.

"We have a situation now where Congress is saying exactly the same thing, that they're essentially inhibiting the leaders that we need to move us through this, through these bureaucratic means. And I frankly don't care whether the Republicans are playing tit for tat with the president, or whether this is about the immigration bill. There are black lives, and white lives, that are at risk right now, that are getting slowed up because they're not moving this forward. And we have to change."