Bernie Sanders - Civil Rights Activist

[onpatrol98]

What has Bernie Sanders done for African Americans? It may be a really long list. I'm just not familiar with it. But, it's mentioned a lot, like it's common knowledge. So, just so I know when this statement comes up, I'll know what we're talking about. What is his civil rights record as it relates to African Americans? I mean...we're in the AA group, after all.

And, we don't have to go back to the time Moses walked the Earth.

I'm okay with starting with...say the 80s or 90s forward, because I'm old, but I'm not THAT old. I'm interested in my lifetime, my children's lifetime etc. He's been in Washington long enough to leave a big footprint.

So, as to his civil rights record and how it impacts life for an African American in the US. What has Bernie done? I'm not asking about Hilary because no one proclaims her as a civil rights activist. I really don't know that she's done anything. I don't know. And, typically I only hear the phrase associated with people who've been pretty active...agenda wise. But, here lately, Bernie is often mentioned as a civil rights activist, but I never saw him as that. Although I always thought him a compassionate man.

For the record, I'm also not thinking about Women's rights or LGBT rights at the moment. But, we could certainly do that also with all the candidates. I'm just speaking in terms of African Americans as the central demographic of interest at the moment...as it relates to the whole "civil rights activist" thinking.

[onpatrol98]

1. One more thought....

I'm not interested in his ratings by the NAACP or the ACLU for stances. Anybody can take a stance. A stance doesn't make someone a civil right's activist.

He was in a position to get things done. What did he get done?

[99th_Monkey]

5. Since I assume you are asking this, in order to make a comparison with Hillary Clinton

I'll also offer this:
The Clinton Dynasty's Horrific Legacy: More Drug War, More Prisons
Pandering to "tough on crime" politics and "war on drugs" rhetoric helped create the world's largest prison system. Has Hillary learned anything?
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/clinton-dynasty-horrific-legacy-more-drug-war-more-prisons

[Chitown Kev]

32. Bernie Sanders voted for the 1994 crime bill.

[pnwmom]

61. +1000. n/t

[Travis_0004]

82. Cant really hold that against him

It was practically endorsed by the CBC, and I think every member of the CBC supported it.

And as much ad we dont want to admit it, crime is way down from 94 levels

[Chitown Kev]

84. Well, it's a mixture of good and bad legislation

the Assault Weapons Ban is in that bill as is the Violence Against Women Act.

But not every member of the CBC supported it, although the head of the CBC at the time, Kwesi Mfume did vote for the bill.

Much of the NY delegation, for example, voted no.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/103-1994/h416

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[jfern]

86. Yes, it would have been better if he hadn't

But he did have reservations

Mr. Speaker, it is my firm belief that clearly, there are some people in our society who are horribly violent, who are deeply sick and sociopathic, and clearly these people must be put behind bars in order to protect society from them. But it is also my view that through the neglect of our Government and through a grossly irrational set of priorities, we are dooming tens of millions of young people to a future of bitterness, misery, hopelessness, drugs, crime, and violence. And Mr. Speaker, all the jails in the world, and we already imprison more people per capita than any other country, and all of the executions in the world, will not make that situation right. We can either educate or electrocute. We can create meaningful jobs, rebuilding our society, or we can build more jails. Mr. Speaker, let us create a society of hope and compassion, not one of hate and vengeance.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/09/1410122/-Senator-Sanders-remarks-on-1994-Crime-Bill

[Chitown Kev]

87. Well, the mass incarceration stuff was predicted by some

and discounted by others.

In the US Senate the only no vote on that bill was Russ Feingold.

[kwassa]

2. Interesting point: what is the difference between a supporter and an activist?

Bernie is certainly a civil rights supporter, but doesn't seem to be an activist since the early '60s.

Here is the oft-quoted alternet list of Bernie's civil rights accomplishments, many of which only tangentially
impact African-Americans. Some items on this list are social justice rather than civil rights items, IMHO.

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/20-examples-bernie-sanders-powerful-record-civil-and-human-rights-1950s

[onpatrol98]

3. No doubt...

That would seem more accurate...

I was reading another article on DU that mentioned him as an activist and I was left wondering...activist. I never saw him as an activist. I saw him as a supporter and ally. But, I never considered him an activist.

[questionseverything]

39. does this count?

"When the Congressional Black Caucus asked me to present my discovery of the illegal purge of Black voters in Florida, only one white guy showed: Bernie Sanders. Hillary: MIA. I'm tired of hearing that Sanders doesn't reach out to Black folk. He's been on the front lines since Selma. I don't endorse candidates — but I also don't tolerate bullshit over facts." - Greg Palast

[Tarheel_Dem]

55. Nope. n/t

[randys1]

58. Oh I think it counts big time.

If you are not aware of his reporting on what happened in FL and how Black people by the tens of thousands were not permitted to vote, then trust me, this is a big deal and Bernie was there when he needed to be on this issue, most others were not.

[Tarheel_Dem]

66. See post #64.

[Chitown Kev]

64. Hillary Clinton appears to have been a co-sponsor of this forum

http://www.gregpalast.com/palast-to-testify-at-us-civil-rights-commission-thursday-july-15th/

Wednesday, July 14, 2004


The US Civil Rights Commission has asked Greg Palast to testify before a special commission hearing Thursday, July 15th at 11am, to discuss his continuing investigative reports for BBC Television on Florida and other states' cleansing of Black voters from voter rolls. Palast's reports provide the basis for the story on the vote fix in Florida featured in Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11.'

The Commission requested that the Florida Secretary of State testify jointly with Palast before the Commission.

The hearings are open to the public and to the media.

Palast's latest investigation has uncovered new attempts by the State of Florida to take away the votes of African-Americans - this includes a fix in registries and in ballot counting methods and racial bias in the computerization of the ballot box. "Florida put Jim Crow in cyberspace in 2000 ... and it's looking worse in 2004."

The Democratic Caucus of Congress has also asked Palast to appear Thursday morning before the hearings to explain the latest from his investigations of vote fixes and the Bush-bin Laden family connection. Palast will also be a panelist on a joint Minority Outreach Forum sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus and Senator Hillary Clinton. "I'm happy to speak to Republicans, too," said journalist Palast, "but I haven't received a request to drop by Dick Cheney's bunker."

At the very least, a tiny sin of omission by Mr. Palast.

[questionseverything]

67. i doubt palast is sinning in anyway

presenting to the black leaders of congress plus bernie could certainly be different than the outreach forum sponsored

heck the outreach could of come out of the earlier congressional presentation

maybe h lent her name to the outreach but did not actually show

i have no idea but i respect palast very,very much...if you are that concerned ask him on facebook

i didnt even see the hillary mia earlier...i was simply showing bernie supporting aa right to vote

[Chitown Kev]

68. I don't do facebook

and I would rather research this myself.

[questionseverything]

69. the info you posted is from 04

http://www.gregpalast.com/from-white-sheets-to-spreadsheets/

this is a new investigation he is talking about

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251596645

[Chitown Kev]

70. Nothing in that link

about the illegal voter purge in Florida, though, which is what Palast's facebook posting refers to

I do know that Hillary Clinton was very busy on July 15, 2004, though.

[questionseverything]

71. florida plus 27 more states

Obviously I was not speaking with King Jr.—a bullet stole him from us in 1968. The question was posed by his son, Martin Luther King III. I spent an afternoon at his home in Atlanta, where we pored over the latest evidence that Americans of color were blocked at the doors to the polls in the 2014 midterm elections—by the hundreds of thousands.

As King’s 6-year-old daughter serenaded us with her toy drum set, we dived into a massive, secretive database used by elections officials—almost all of them Republicans—in 28 states. The scheme, called “Interstate Crosscheck,” threatens to disqualify the ballots of over a million voters, overwhelmingly citizens of color.

It took six months for my investigations team, in coordination with Al-Jazeera America, to get its hands on the names of those tagged for the voting rights slaughter.

According to the GOP officials, these citizens had voted twice in the same election, in two different states—a federal crime. As punishment, their mail-in ballots would be junked and their registrations annulled. But no reporters had seen (or, for that matter, asked for) the lists. State officials, the modern-day equivalents of Bull Connor, refused our requests on grounds that these Americans were all suspects in a criminal investigation and therefore the files were confidential.

Nevertheless, we managed to get hunks of the lists—2.1 million names of a total 3.5 million “suspected double voters.”

Who are these criminal voters? A typical example: Kevin Antonio Hayes of Durham, N.C., allegedly voted a second time in Virginia as Kevin Thomas Hayes. The Durham Hayes, however, swears to me that he has never used the alias Thomas or set foot in Virginia. Another: James Elmer Barnes Jr. of Georgia allegedly voted a second time as James Cross Barnes III of Arlington, VA.

The lists go on like that: huge numbers accused solely on the basis of sharing a first and last name with a voter in another state.

/////////////////////////////////////////

Purging phantasmagorical “double voters” and finding thousands of votes in magical computer systems are but two of the methods at Dr. James Crow’s disposal. Working with Kennedy, I’ve counted nine sophisticated, racially dubious methods for blocking the black vote, costing—by a conservative estimate—5.9 million Americans their voting rights.

////////////////////////////////////////////

i never said hillary wasn't involved...palast did, maybe you should tell mlk's son to stop bothering with palast

<shrugs>

[Chitown Kev]

72. No, no, no

Palast's post is VERY SPECIFICALLY talking about a meeting hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus specifically on Florida here is the full text of the facebook posing which is linked above in full

When the Congressional Black Caucus asked me to present my discovery of the illegal purge of Black voters in Florida, only one white guy showed: Bernie Sanders. Hillary: MIA. I'm tired of hearing that Sanders doesn't reach out to Black folk. He's been on the front lines since Selma. I don't endorse candidates — but I also don't tolerate bullshit over facts.

That meeting was held July 15, 2004.

I have provided visual evidence of where Hillary Clinton was on July 15, 2004.

Massachusetts Rep Michael Capuano also spoke at the same event that Hillary Clinton (and Mary Landreau and Elijah Cummings) spoke.

This day-long summit was hosted by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, Rep. Elijah Cummings, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Hillary Clinton had another obligation on July 15, 2004 and Greg Palast did not report that.

[Tarheel_Dem]

73. <<<<Crickets>>>>. Thanks for your research on this. It was a not-so-clever attempt at deception.

[Chitown Kev]

74. They need to stop playin'

I don't call it the "GoogleBoomTube" for nothin'...don't we know each other from "across the dem blog pond" (so to speak)?

[Number23]

79. Chitown Kev, you are NOT PLAYING

Are you???!!

And I am damn glad that you are here.

[betsuni]

75. Thank you very much for the information.

This is where I come for facts after seeing all the breathless hysterics over nothing in other places.

[JI7]

17. this is a good way to describe it. his focus in recent years have been economics

which is fine in itself. But when minorities talk about issues specific to them it's not the same thing.

[LWolf]

100. Does this count?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1&v=MrqBuT6BhXQ

https://berniesanders.com/support-journey-for-justice-as-it-marches-through-raleigh/

[99th_Monkey]

4. Here are a few of the things I'm aware of.

Condemned And Opposed Welfare Reform and Dog Whistle Politics: While President Bill Clinton and most Democrats in Congress supported so-called welfare reform politics, Sanders not only voted against this policy change, but wrote eloquently against the dog whistle politics used to sell it, saying, “The crown jewel of the Republican agenda is their so-called welfare reform proposal. The bill, which combines an assault on the poor, women and children, minorities, and immigrants is the grand slam of scapegoating legislation, and appeals to the frustrations and ignorance of the American people along a wide spectrum of prejudices.”

Vocally Condemning and Opposing "Tough on Crime" bills & the Death Penalty His Entire Political Career: Sanders has long been a critic of “tough on crime” policies. Here he is in 1991 condemning a crime bill for promoting “state murder” through expansion of the death penalty:

“My friends, we have the highest percentage of people in jail per capita of any nation on earth....What do we have to do, put half the country behind bars? Mister Speaker, instead of talking about punishment and vengeance, let us talk about the real issue. How do we get to the root causes of crime? How do we stop crime? … I've got a problem with a president and Congress that allows five million people to go hungry, two million people to sleep out on the street, cities to become breeding grounds for drugs and violence. And they say we're getting tough on crime. If you want to get tough on crime, let's deal with the causes of crime. Let's demand that every man, woman, and child in this country have a decent opportunity and a decent standard of living. Let's not keep putting more people into jail and disproportionately punishing blacks.”

Bernie also has called for putting an end to private for-profit prisons, that disproportionately criminalize and incarcerate Black people. http://www.vox.com/2015/9/10/9299851/bernie-sanders-private-prisons

Bernie endorsed Jesse Jackson: Jesse was the first competitive black candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency. Bernie got a lot of criticism for this, but that did not deter him from supporting Jackson.

Strongly Condemned Police Violence Over the Past Year: One criticism of Sanders is that he avoids talking about police violence in favor of talking about the economy. While the economy forms the bulk of his pitch, he has repeatedly condemned police violence during the duration of the Black Lives Matter movement. Here he is in mid-August 2014, before frontrunner Clinton ever spoke about the issue. http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/nyt-learning-from-the-ferguson-tragedy
There are other examples on 8/20/14, 8/24/14, 8/18/14, 6/6/2015, 4/30/2015, 6/2015. available on request.

Defended Voting Rights Against Voter Suppression Efforts: Sanders earned the endorsement of radical rapper Killer Mike by his leadership on defending the Voter Rights Act and calling for expanding voting rights.

Put Out Detailed Plan to End Economic Crisis in Minority Communities: Many argue that Sanders views the issue of racial justice in too myopic a fashion by focusing on the economy. But polling of both Latinos and African Americans shows that jobs and the economy is either their top concern or tied for their top concern.

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/20-examples-bernie-sanders-powerful-record-civil-and-human-rights-1950s

[Spazito]

6. Your list is what he has said, the question is what has he done...

Stating your views is fine, it is also easy. Doing something about what you are saying is more difficult, riskier and a whole different ballgame, imo.

[99th_Monkey]

7. When a Congressman "supports" or "opposes" a bill, that IS doing something, no?

He's been in Congress weighing in with his votes, in support of POC consistently,
for decades.

[Chitown Kev]

8. So has the senior Senator from Vermont

In fact, Patrick Leahy has even better NAACP scores over the long haul than Bernie Sanders...you can check 20 years worth of their scorecards...it's on the NAACP website.

[99th_Monkey]

10. What's your point? I didn't know Leahy was running for POTUS in 2016. -nt-

[Chitown Kev]

11. Sanders is no Huey Long, is my point

say what you will about the Kingfish, THAT was a Congressional activist WHILE his was in Congress as was Father Drinan from Massachusetts.

Bernie was a reliable "yes" vote on needed legislation, yes. Not an activist.

Study the distinction, I have given you 2 names.

[99th_Monkey]

13. Nice try

But this current 2016 primary choice facing voters does not involve Kingfish, nor is Father Drinan running to the best of my knowledge. You can tout their records as better than Sanders all you want, but it's irrelevant IMHO.

No cigar.

[Chitown Kev]

19. YOU are make the claim that Bernie Sanders congressional votes constitutes civil rights ACTIVISM

It is VERY rare that elected officials are activists of any sort, simply because of the nature of the job of being an elected official, is my point.

[Exultant Democracy]

22. Only if you maintain the laughable slur that those who walked with King were not activist.

Should I let my grandmother know what you think about what she did for you and the rest? Let her know that her activism in the 60's was meaningless?

[Chitown Kev]

27. Then Mitch McConnell counts as "an activist" as well

Bernie Sanders, himself, said that he was "way, way back there" in the 1963 March

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[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

102. Do you really want to go around telling voters

that Mitch McConnell could be bothered to march for racial justice, but Hillary Clinton couldn't?

[Chitown Kev]

105. Wow...a 15 or 16 year old Hillary Rodham, you mean...

and besides, Hillary Rodham had already been to a Dr. King speech (Orchestra Hall in Chicago in 1962) and even shook his hand

[Chitown Kev]

28. I'm not a native Chicagoian but...

I do know that Bernie Sanders worked on a reelection campaign of "the lone negro on the city council" and I, personally, count that with his civil rights activism in the 1960's even if no one else does because it's very very rarely mentioned.

[questionseverything]

40. ...

"When the Congressional Black Caucus asked me to present my discovery of the illegal purge of Black voters in Florida, only one white guy showed: Bernie Sanders. Hillary: MIA. I'm tired of hearing that Sanders doesn't reach out to Black folk. He's been on the front lines since Selma. I don't endorse candidates — but I also don't tolerate bullshit over facts." - Greg Palast

[Chitown Kev]

42. That's impressive...but is that "activism"?

I mean, much less impressive for the other Congressmen that weren't there..what year did that take place?

[JI7]

44. yeah Hillary regularly gets together with minorities

And attends their events.

I don't think people are really understanding your point.

It's not a question of whether sanders supports certain issues concerning minorities which he clearly does . Along with just about all democrats.

[Chitown Kev]

47. Actually, Hillary does do that

I mean, Hillary has been known to stab them in the back too (ask the Edelmans) but Hillary Clinton has been going to black churches on and off since she was 16 years old.

Remember, Hillary shook Martin Luther King's hand. In 1962.

[JI7]

48. yeah one of the criticisms of them is they are too political

I think once the election is over we will hear a lot which wasn't so good with her and Obama during her time as sec of state.

I think they are on ok professional terms but i don't think it's some great friendship.

[Number23]

59. What in the world?? You do realize that alot of things have happened to black people since

the March on Washington? You do realize that the Civil Rights movement is still being fought TODAY, don't you???

[99th_Monkey]

24. I respectfully disagree, but you've already decided, so fine.

The OP question was "What has Bernie done?"

I answered. You apparently want to believe Bernie's done nothing for AA's,
by splitting hairs about definitions of doing v. "activism". Fine.

I think this is where we agree to disagree.

[Exultant Democracy]

16. So when he was marching with King he wasn't an activist?

He didn't walk the walk and then go to congress and follow up his activism with a great voting record on civil rights issues? This needs some freaking serious double talk to explain away and it's pretty pathetic to watch.

[Spazito]

12. Voting was his 'job', the very minimum of what is expected of an elected representative...

Applauding him for doing his job is not something I see as needed.

[99th_Monkey]

14. It's not "just voting" willy-nilly silly, it's WHAT he votes for/against that is relevant. -nt-

[Spazito]

18. Please show me where Bernie's vote was the crucial vote in passing or defeating a bill...

I would be very interested in knowing this.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

101. Way to move those goalposts!

Congrats, you've successfully created a bar through which, 99% of all Senatorial votes are meaningless, and 434/435 House votes ditto. Even more, really, since very few votes are ever settled by a single vote. By your definition of what votes matter, probably something like only one in 10000 Senate votes ever cast ever matter, being the 'crucial' one vote to pass or defeat a bill.

[Chitown Kev]

9. We all know that sanders voted for the 1994 crime bill

which was rather complicated, because there was good stuff as well as bad stuff in that bill but he did vote for that.

Russ Feingold was the only US Senator that did not vote for the 1994 crime bill (and yes, I know that Sanders was a Rep for Vermont and not a Senator at that and yes I know that there were quite a few members of the CBC that voted for that crime bill)

[Chitown Kev]

15. For example, you list Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign

Why WOULDN'T Bernie Sanders have endorsed Jesse Jackson in 1988...look at this platform

creating a Works Progress Administration-style program to rebuild America's infrastructure and provide jobs to all Americans,

reprioritizing the War on Drugs to focus less on mandatory minimum sentences for drug users (which he views as racially biased) and more on harsher punishments for money-laundering bankers and others who are part of the "supply" end of "supply and demand"

reversing Reaganomics-inspired tax cuts for the richest ten percent of Americans and using the money to finance social welfare programs

cutting the budget of the Department of Defense by as much as fifteen percent over the course of his administration

declaring Apartheid-era South Africa to be a rogue nation

instituting an immediate nuclear freeze and beginning disarmament negotiations with the Soviet Union

giving reparations to descendants of black slaves

supporting family farmers by reviving many of Roosevelt's New Deal–era farm programs

creating a single-payer system of universal health care

ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment

increasing federal funding for lower-level public education and providing free community college to all

applying stricter enforcement of the Voting Rights Act and

supporting the formation of a Palestinian state.

That's a hell of a platform, yes, but it is also where Bernie sanders was politically in 1988; I would expect him to endorse Jackson as opposed to Dukakis based on Jackson's position on the issues and not the color of Jackson's skin...which kind of makes your point but in a very different way.

[99th_Monkey]

20. Yes, it's where Bernie stood in 1988, where he's stood for decades, and where he STILL stands, immovable.

unlike some other "evolving" politicians whose names I will not mention

[Chitown Kev]

26. I would love for a reporter to ask Bernie Sanders

if he's still for slave reparations as he was in 1988...

I think that Sanders is the most liberal Dem in Congress right now, but he's not as far left as he was in 1988.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

103. That would be interesting.

I hope he'd say 'Yes'.

[Exultant Democracy]

21. So civil rights activism during the 60's doesn't count? Convenient for your argument but disgusting.

When he was asked to march he marched when he went to congress he voted the right way and vocally stood up against the Clintons when they were triangulating away our civil rights with atrocious justice system reforms.

"I'm okay with starting with...say the 80s or 90s forward, because I'm old, but I'm not THAT old. I'm interested in my lifetime, my children's lifetime etc. He's been in Washington long enough to leave a big footprint." We have a term for thinking like this it is called myopia, and it is nothing to be proud of. From your myopic point of view the majority of civil rights activist starting from before the nadir would be discounted, pretty fucking insulting to their memory in my opinion.

[JI7]

25. then black people should have supported lieberman in 2004

[Exultant Democracy]

29. Lieberman supported the Clinton justice system reforms, so you need to explain your absurd logic.

[JI7]

30. so did sanders who voted for the crime bill

[Tarheel_Dem]

56. Zing!

[uponit7771]

99. +1

[Chitown Kev]

31. Bernie Sanders voted for the 1994 crime bill

he did give a nice speech on that occasion, though.

[kwassa]

34. Host warning: tone it down, or you will be blocked

This is a protected group, not a forum. This is your only warning.

[Chitown Kev]

35. Thank you

This group is pretty much the safest space on this blog for me right now, I guess.

[kwassa]

37. We hosts wish to maintain the safety.

You are welcome.

[Exultant Democracy]

78. Do what you must to enforce your "bubble" I've been black on DU longer than most everyone here

I'll keep calling bullshit bullshit, got racist white DU on one side and insular nonsense in the only black forum. From where I see this places best days are long gone and the bullshit the is taken as common knowledge in this forum is heart breaking. Enjoy your group as it grows smaller everyday, just remember next time you complain about voices being silenced on DU.

[zappaman]

80. Wow dude.

I'll bet you're fun at parties.

[Number23]

85. Actually the group has grown considerably in the past few years. On DU2, there only about a dozen

regular posters in the AA forum. We have a hell of alot more here.

I completely agree with you that DU's best days are long gone. I also understand that you recognize that you are a distinct minority within an minority re: your decision to minimize Sanders' really obvious issues with connecting to the black community. And that's okay. But if you want to make it this some insurmountable issue where you get to feel persecuted and think that you're going to lash out at everyone else as a result, that's where the problem comes in.

It's totally up to you. You can disagree -- passionately even -- and still be part of this group or you can bow out. It's up to you. But you just keep in mind, there are a slew of Sanders supporters in the AA group which I'm sure you have seen by now. There are even hosts in the AA forum that are Sanders supporters. So your bowing out would not have anything to do with who you support but the way in which you have chosen to do so. And in that regard, you are most definitely in some numerous (if not good) company.

[JI7]

23. "I'm not asking about Hilary because no one proclaims her as a civil rights activist."

This is an important point. Hillary's strongest black and gay and other minority supporters don't even claim she is some great activist for issues concerning them.

They see her more as someone who listens and can relate to them . And think she will move in right direction through policy.

[Dems to Win]

36. Eleanor Holmes Norton just sent this tweet a couple hours ago

https://twitter.com/EleanorNorton/status/643846256398364672


Eleanor H. NortonVerified account
‏@EleanorNorton
Welcoming #JourneyForJustice marchers to DC with @GKButterfield and @SenSanders #JusticeSummer

[Chitown Kev]

38. OT: Is that my former Senator in your avatar?

[Dems to Win]

41. I believe/hope it is Congresswoman Barbara Lee

It's one of the standard ones available to use on this site, but the avatars don't have labels. I've been using it for a while, thinking it is Barbara Lee. I really hope I'm right about that, but can't actually confirm it.

Who is your former senator? Carol Mosely Braun?

[Chitown Kev]

43. Yes...

I always thought that Barbara Lee had a skinner face....just looked at a picture...not true but it's the bun...

[greatauntoftriplets]

45. I think it's Carol Moseley Braun, too.

[Dems to Win]

49. Thank you, I appreciate being set straight nt

[greatauntoftriplets]

51. You're welcome.

She also used to be my senator so is highly recognizable to me.

[Dems to Win]

50. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I do appreciate it

[lib87]

52. He Marched with the NAACP Today

That's all I got. I plan on checking back with this thread throughout the next few days to see more about what he has done before election season. He seems like a good candidate but since this subject keeps coming up as a reason I should vote for him, I hope to read some good information.

[JI7]

53. i think he is fine. the issue seems to be a lot of his white supporters

Make him out to be something he isn't and think black people should be supporting him because he is the greatest fighter for their rights.

Hillary is always attending events and getting together with others like this.

But now we have comments about how congressional black caucus is supporting Hillary because of money. And that's what people find offensive.

[Chitown Kev]

54. and the overselling and browbeating of

black people on the subject is turning this black voter off.

[Stellar]

77. and that's exactly why I'm taking another look at O'Malley. nt

[Number23]

60. I would like this post pinned on the front page of this web site. Because you have encapsulated the

issue black folks have with Bernie Sanders so perfectly everyone should see it.

i think he is fine. the issue seems to be a lot of his white supporters

Make him out to be something he isn't and think black people should be supporting him because he is the greatest fighter for their rights.

SANDERS is not and has never been the problem. It is far too many of his SUPPORTERS who have acted as though his particpation in a march 50 years ago should be the only thing black people care about and who get mad as hell when we tell them in no uncertain terms that's not even close to being enough.

[lib87]

63. I Wish it Could be Pinned

For those who want to understand.

[JI7]

81. they also act like the march with King was the only black event ever to happen

right now there are some threads about how Sanders was the only white person to attend some black caucus events. but what they don't mention is that the event was sponsered by Senator Hillary Clinton and the Congressional Black Caucus. Hillary herself did not meet with Palast because she was at another african american event.

there are events like this happening all the time across the country for african americans, hispanics, gays, asians ,native americans etc. most democrats would have attended many of them. they are one of the ways to reach different communities .

but they make Sanders participation into some rare heroic thing . and this says more about them and their lack of knowledge about these things than anything else.

it's great sanders attended that event but as i said before, there is no need to make it out to be something it isn't.

[Number23]

90. Exactly. I mean Sanders has a ton of problems with his campaign but those issues are being addressed

I just want to qualify that because I said before that "Sanders is not and has never been the problem."

Sanders is NOT the problem. His campaign has been incredibly clumsy and has alot of holes in it from my perspective but I think that he can and will address them.

The REAL problem, the problem that has been discussed in this group, on black Twitter, and all over the Internet and has been condemned right and left is not Sanders but as you said, it's his supporters that have made him out to be something that he isn't and have made it their mission to harass and hound black people who dare to say otherwise. Sanders is not the one saying things like "I'm the only one who cares about you people" it's way too many of the people who support him saying things like this. And then they sit back and wonder why so few of us have even the slightest desire to give them the time of day.

about how Sanders was the only white person to attend some black caucus events. but what they don't mention is that the event was sponsered by Senator Hillary Clinton and the Congressional Black Caucus.

Good God. Do they know this??? And they're still acting like it's a big deal??? That level of desperation would be funny if it wasn't so incredibly tragic.

[jfern]

88. Did anyone say he's the greatest living civil rights fighter?

I think Sanders supporters know he's no John Lewis (or whomever you consider to be greatest).

Sanders has a long history of caring about civil rights, but anyone making him out to be a civil rights hero is overselling him. He had some things to learn about BLM, but he got the message.

[Number23]

89. Since Netroots nation, a stream of Sanders supporters have been blanketing black Twitter

and haunting the steps of black folks right and left determined to browbeat us into supporting Sanders due to his "strong civil rights record" which seems to pretty much begin and end with his participation in the March on Washington.

I haven't seen anyone say "he's the greatest living civil rights fighter" and I haven't seen anyone in this thread say that they've seen anyone say that either. Thanks

But it is constantly inferred that he is a civil rights icon/legend even though most black people have no idea about this and that appears to include the black people who have worked with him in Congress who all seem to be endorsing other people.

[kath]

92. "...his "strong civil rights record" which seems to pretty much begin and end with his participation

in the March on Washington"
What?? Are you unaware of the events described here???:

In Chicago, Sanders threw himself into activism—civil rights, economic justice, volunteering, organizing. “I received more of an education off campus than I did in the classroom,” Sanders says. By his 23rd birthday, Sanders had worked for a meatpackers union, marched for civil rights in Washington D.C., joined the university socialists and been arrested at a civil rights demonstration. He delivered jeremiads to young crowds. The police called him an outside agitator, Sanders said. He was a sloppy student, and the dean asked him to take a year off. He inspired his classmates. “He knows how to talk to people now,” said Robin Kaufman, a student who knew Sanders in 1960s Chicago, “and he knew how to do it then.” He was a radical before it was cool.
...

The civil rights movement also became a home for him. He became leaders of an NAACP ally called the Congress of Racial Equality at a time when most civil rights activists were black. He was arrested while demonstrating for desegregated public schools in Chicago. (No big deal, says Sanders: “You can go outside and get arrested, too!” he jokes. “It’s not that hard if you put your mind to it.”) He once walked around Chicago putting up fliers protesting police brutality. After half an hour, he realized a police car was following him, taking down every paper he’d up, one by one. “Are these yours?” he remembers the officer telling him, holding up the stack of the fliers.

In his second year at college, Sanders made national news. On a frigid Tuesday afternoon in January, 1962 the 20-year-old from Brooklyn stood on the steps of University of Chicago administration building and railed in the wind against the college’s housing segregation policy. “We feel it is an intolerable situation, when Negro and white students of the university cannot live together in university owned apartments,” the young bespectacled student told the few-dozen classmates gathered there. Then he led them into the building in protest, and camped the night outside the president’s office. It was Chicago’s first civil rights sit-in.

http://time.com/3896500/bernie-sanders-vermont-campaign-radical/

[Chitown Kev]

96. And Chicago had NEVER been a hub

of civil rights activity prior to Bernie Sanders?

(I know that the Chicago being referred to in the last line is "UofC" but do you know how ridiculous this over-inflation of his record sounds to me.

White folks getting these black folks told about what a white man did for ALL OF US...PLEASE.

[Number23]

98. Got anything beyond the 1960s?? That was kind of my point.

[rbrnmw]

57. Can't we even wait for the debates?

I don't need force fed a candidate I will decide when I see them over the next few months. The debates are always a good way to gauge imo. It is not a sporting event it's our lives we are deciding.

[pnwmom]

62. It feels like a lot of people want to short-circuit the process by instantly

choosing up sides, even though there's still more than a year till the election.

[Chitown Kev]

65. My states primary isn't until March 15th

[pnwmom]

76. Ours are not till the 26th of March. And they're caucuses, which are a major pain. n/t

[onpatrol98]

94. I don't understand the question?

Do you mean, can we wait for the debates before we discuss the candidates? It's a political discussion board, we're naturally going to discuss the candidates of interest to us. I suppose Skinner could ban discussion of candidates until after the 1st debate. That would end a lot of the back and forth. Do you mean we shouldn't pick sides until after the debates? Well, I understand that a bit better. But, the candidates have been telling us what they believe. And, the debates may change the perspectives of a few. But, then we'll simply discuss that, as well.

If your statement was meant to read, "I don't feel the need to force feed a candidate..."? I agree. I have never felt the need to force feed a candidate to anyone. I simply had a question. A lot of DUers were talking about Bernie Sanders as a modern civil rights activist as it related to black people as a reason for their should be assumed support. I didn't know about the activism. I knew about the 60s, because it had been mentioned quite frequently. But, many of the supporters were so adamant, almost as if to imply how could we not (as African Americans) not support him. So, I thought, heck what am I missing? And, yes, I do miss things. I know.

But, I haven't been told anything I didn't already know. As a young man, he was an active supporter of civil rights for African Americans. I think that's awesome! It in no way denigrates him, for us to simply ponder in the African American group, whether or not it continued once he was actually in a position to affect change.

Young man --> Little Power --> Strong Supporter & Activist
Older man --> Much Power --> (???)

I was simply asking DUers to let me know. They did. Now, I do believe if we seem to get a bit hostile in here, it's because of the way we're approached. It's almost as if someone walks into your home (AA group), slaps you, and then they later suggest indignantly they have no idea why you put them out (banned them).

We can and should treat each other with respect. But, if not, only the homeowner gets to stay. (Well, except on DU, where outsiders regular troll the AA group, alert stalk "at times" on innocuous posts, in hopes of ganging up on the homeowners.)

[rbrnmw]

95. I agree we should dicuss but

It should be a civil discussion. Some of the best and most articulate posters are on timeout because they dared to tell a few people why they were turned off by some of Bernie's supporters and explain how they felt about Bernie's handling of BlackLivesMatters activists and Cornell West. It's just irratating and I want to hear from all the candidates before I make a decision.

[onpatrol98]

97. Certainly fair enough...

Makes sense

[onpatrol98]

91. Thanks everyone!!!

Thanks to everyone who responded. I think we've cleared that up nicely, really. I don't believe Bernie Sanders is any more of a civil rights activist than Hillary Clinton, as far as African Americans are concerned. He is a civil rights supporter who also had the distinction of marching with Martin Luther King. I consider Hilary Clinton a civil rights supporter, as well. I felt I was a bit out of the loop when all the talk of his activism came up. It was as if this sentiment was common knowledge, and I was left thinking, well, I certainly wasn't aware of his activism.

It's not a distinction without a difference. For instance, if someone said...hey, you know Luis Gutiérrez, U.S. Representative and civil rights activist, I wouldn't think anything of it. I couldn't imagine him or his supporters suggesting...well, really this is about economics more than anything else. These are class issues more than gender, race, or ethnic issues???

So, for me...I don't need to see either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders differently on race issues, I can focus more on elect-ability and their current standing within the democratic party, and the practicality of the policies they propose. For instance, it will be informative for me when the endorsements from other house reps and/or senators eventually roll out. After all, I'm sure they know them better than I do.

As for why I wanted to start with the 80s and 90s (since that seemed to aggravate some people, although I have no idea why), discussing 1980-2015 is still a 35 year time window. That's a long time to be politically active. Can you imagine the number of bills possibly authored and co-authored over a 35 year window? I mean, if we send Number23 to represent us, what types of bills would she be drawn to sponsor or co-sponsor. I think that's where you see their passion. I mean...If you could ONLY sponsor one bill a year, Number23, Kwassa, Scorpio, JAG, etc. What would they look like? I'm just suggesting rhetorically, of course.

[Chitown Kev]

93. On the FB posting of Greg Palast

which unfortunately consumes far too much of this thread...he changed the story (moved the goalposts?) on Thom Hartmann 9/17.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="

" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Palast may be right about this CBC meeting taking place in late October 2004 and maybe not, I'll look this up to the best of my ability.

But that FB posting and that discussion took place on 9/15, so as far as I am concerned, Palast needs to show some receipts for that new stuff he told Hartmann; Hartmann, himself, cites DU as his source for the Palast's FB posting of the 15th.

My problem here isn't with Bernie Sanders, it's with Greg Palast and his shoddy reporting.

[pinebox]

104. Here, you may like this

here's a little something for ya

On Thursday, Sanders joined with African American congressman Keith Ellison in launching new legislation aimed at phasing out the use of private companies to run state and federal jails, a factor they say has played a big part in soaring US prison numbers and the disproportionate incarceration of young black men. http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/17/bernie-sanderss-black-supporters-democratic-nomination

[onpatrol98]

106. I do like that.