I am still disturbed by the way Bernie Sanders was heckled at Netroots. He was treated like someone who did not care about black people, humiliated, and shouted down. However, if you put Bernie’s record, over the years, on the table, it’s clear to see that he has done more for civil and human rights than any other candidate in the presidential field.
Over the past few months, one lingering blemish on Bernie Sanders' candidacy for the Democratic nomination is his indifference to racial justice and civil rights issues.
But the truth is, Sanders has a 50-year history of standing up for civil and minority rights, as he told the attendants of Netroots Nation after he was interrupted by Black Lives Matter protesters. Of course, it's understandable that they want to bring attention to the movement…
…Here are 20 ways Sanders has stood up for civil and minority rights, starting in the early 1950s up to the present year.
1. Raising Money For Korean Orphans: International solidarity was an unusual concept for any American to have in the 1950s, let alone a high school student. But one of Sanders' first campaigns was to run for class president at James Madison High School in New York City. His platform was based around raising scholarship funds for Korean war orphans. Although he lost, the person who did win the campaign decided to endorse Sanders' campaign, and scholarships were created.
2. Being Arrested For Desegregation: As a student at the University of Chicago, Sanders was active in both the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In 1962, he was arrested for protesting segregation in public schools in Chicago; the police came to call him an outside agitator, as he went around putting up flyers around the city detailing police brutality.
3. Marching In March On Washington: Sanders joined the mega-rally called by the leaders of the civil rights movement, a formative event of his youth.
4. Calling For Full Gay Equality: 40 years ago, Sanders started his political life by running with a radical third party in Vermont called the Liberty Union Party. As a part of the platform, he called for abolishing all laws related to discrimination against homosexuality…
Inserted from <Alternet>
I have shared just the first four examples. I urge you to click through for the other sixteen.
To be critical of Bernie, he did not have a detailed platform already prepared to deal with systemic racism against blacks. But it’s the time in candidates’ campaigns that they’re just beginning to cobble their positions on most issues together.
The simple truth here is that Bernie needed to learn more about the issue. Had the leaders of the Black Lives* Matter movement sought Bernie out and educated him on what steps need to be taken to deal with systemic racism, I have no doubt that Bernie would have incorporated their positions into his campaign and fought for their positions even after his campaign is over. That’s how Bernie is. That is also what MLK would have done, and it would have been a far more productive move than humiliating their most likely ally.
*typo corrected
22 Responses to “Bernie’s Record is Strong”
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Anyone see where the "National Review" called Bernie a Nazi? No, really … it's true. (OK, not a a "Nazi" Nazi, but a "National Socialist") When confronted, NR responds (while clutching their pearls): "Oh, dear … did you think we meant Nazi when we called him a 'National Socialist'? Oh, my – you just misunderestimatedstood."
Here's a link to the TalkingPointsMemo post about it, that way you won't give NR (which has a very long and very ignominious history of right-wing mendacities) the clicks, unless you want to from the TPM site:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/national-review-bernie-sanders-nazi
I read it, the author definitely has a right wing agenda!
Kevin Williamson, in writing for the National Review, projected the TeapublicanT agenda onto Bernie Sanders. He can provide no examples of why he makes the claims he does. Zeroing in on Bernie's "hatred", the only thing he hates is injustice, bigotry and the corporatocracy we are rapidly becoming.
Indubitably Republican.
I am sympathetic to anyone who was distressed by the events at Netroots Nation. I am also sympathetic to the Black Lives Matter movement. I believe that, no matter what one's credentials are, and I do have some, though many people have more than I do, no white person can fully, viscerally understand what people of color in the United States are living through.
One of the reasons I love Bernie is that I do believe he will be better for Americans of color than any other option. Yes, he will be better for me personally than any other option too, but I need to look beyond that.
Daily Kos has a White Privilege Working Group, where you will find articles pertaining to, I guess I have to say, helping whites understand what blacks need. When I went there to look today, the lead article was by Denise Oliver-Velez. After highlighting a black female Bernie staffer, and a Latina Bernie staffer, she goes briefly into what Bernie is doing and what his staff is doing and saying to address minorities. She addresses where she believes he needs to go farther and deeper. She also points out that it is early.
I hope and believe the Netroots incident was in the nature of growing pains, for all of us.
BTW, that group URL is https://www.dailykos.com/blog/White%20Privilege%20Working%20Group/
I was logged in when I looked at it – if you are not, and it doesn't work, take the "s" out of "https"
Why the Black Lives Matter Protest at Netroots Nation Was Long Overdue
It's time Democratic candidates offer voters a meaningful plan for tackling systemic racism.
http://www.thenation.com/article/why-the-netroots-blacklivesmatter-protest-is-long-overdue/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=daily&utm_campaign=TUESDAY%20Nation%20Daily%2020150721
Bernie is not yet strong on the issue of racism is the message we all needed to hear from Netroots.
PS–I am still disturbed that despite a year of mostly peaceful protests by the Black Lives Matter movement no candidate is ready to propose policy or legislation to address the issue.
That is a very valid piont. My concern is that attempts at intimidation may make such a needed plan less likely.
Bernie Sanders, Netroots, July 2015
Presidential Town Hall featuring Sen. Bernie Sanders – Netroots Nation 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHhrvKlZyS4
More from Netroots:
Friday Morning Keynote – Elizabeth Warren
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7YL5U2tEh0
Presidential Town Hall featuring Gov. Martin O'Malley – Netroots Nation 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti2mFehLzjs
Black Lives Matter Protesters Interrupt Martin O'Malley at Netroots Nation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tMg2oT5Fgdo
The full article on Alternet clearly shows that Bernie has a life time of fighting for black lives. Perhaps he didn't have a proposal they liked to give on demand, but he still should not have been treated the way he was.
One cannot change the colour of their skin. But one can change how they think and act! According to the article and some other things I have read, Bernie has a long list of social activism and that in itself should show that Bernie cares, and that Bernie is committed.
TY TC – I love and respect Bernie Sanders and feel that he has been caring for all people for years, especially those ignored minorities, and I too don't think he should have been treated badly.
There's no doubt that Sanders is a good man and often willing to declare blunt truths that more conventional politicians prefer to leave unspoken. I see his Presidential run as a valuable opportunity to get his message out more broadly, shifting the Overton window, putting his views out in front of people who would otherwise be unlikely to hear them.
That being said, I can understand if minority activists (and progressive activists more generally, for that matter) start out from a position of being antsy about his campaign. I suspect there's an anxiety that he might in some way damage Hillary and increase the risk of the country electing a Republican President who would destroy Obama's legacy and wipe out any hope of progress on the issues these activists most care about — indeed, given the post-2009 insanity of the Republicans, this would probably mean huge steps backward in those areas. It's an anxiety I certainly share. We don't dare take such a risk.
You might want to edit the typo "Black Lies Matter" in the last paragraph — it's somewhat unfortunate.
I did notice that typo, and hope and assume it was not Freudian LOL.
The idea that the black community seems committed to Hillary did cross my mind, and that they may hope attacking Bernie may influence her,
Thanks for a great catch on my typo which is now fixed. It was both unfortunate and unintentional.
There's no doubt in my mind that Bernie hasn't a racist bone in his body but the opposite, and I'm not surprised by the fact that he has long career as activist on all sorts of issues behind him, and racism and inequality are just two of them, that's just the guy Bernie is. But if you seriously go for the presidency of the US you need to address all current issues and not fall back on how you stood on them in the past, because people just don't know about it. And, like the Black Lives Matter protesters, they may not really care about his past as an activist on black rights issues, they want to hear about his viewpoints on systemic racism in the police force, or worse, in the whole country, They don't want to hear about what Bernie did then, they rightly want to hear about what he's going to do now.
This isn't the last time things will get awkward for Bernie, or any other Democratic hopeful either on racial issues or immigration, as these are topics that play a major role in the lives of their voters and these are the topics that Republicans are saying the most god-awful things about in their campaigns, so they better shape up on these issues quickly before this very important part of their electorate doesn't go to the polls again because they think it won't make a difference what they do. Bernie may be right in thinking that he already addresses some of the issues in his socio-economic stance on equality for all, but – and I'm speculating here of course – many black people see their low socio-economic status, their poverty, directly linked to racism and the power of the white man and much less as part of the larger inequality Bernie is talking about. Bernie hasn't addressed the systemic hate black people have to live with day after day yet, and he better address that soon as well as the hate Latino's and Muslims and… have to live with too.
Very insightful Lona. Just like one's employer doesn't give one a raise now based on work done years ago, voters base their votes on the current situation and not any past laurels.
Building on Lona's insight I note that the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act precedes the 50th anniversary of Medicaid and Medicare. LBJ understood the need to listen to what people say are their concerns first instead of building policy not responsive to people's voices and that later economic benefits would never be a substitute for addressing the racism.
Interesting and valid.
Thanks for listening. MLK also taught us that silence is complicity.
Thanks all!! Hugs frin a honky!