''Every seat in the theater in LA filled up so Bernie went outside to talk to the people ... ''

[Tom Rinaldo]

227. I agree with you, it does

The points you make are important ones, and you did so in a fair and gracious manner.

You closed your OP with some wonderful words from a man who for a long time was often jokingly referred to as America's "first Black President" by commentators across the racial spectrum. Words are important, all of us here repeatedly engage in their use towards ends that we believe in. When good words are spoken, ones that vividly frame the important choices before us, by people with high national visibility, than their positive effects are multiplied. Words matter, though I agree that actions matter most. It matters that a white man who was elected to the highest office in the nation paid sincere homage to the courage and moral leadership of the African Americans who risked their lives to move America closer to the noble vision of itself that it likes to proclaim. Bil Clinton made those remarks 18 years ago and rereading them now they still have the power to move me.

Above in this thread you note that those with positions of power, such as U.S. Senators, must do more than simply speak out for positive values, while noting that Bernie Sanders was a sitting member of the House of Representatives who voted FOR the crime bill. Bill Clinton was the sitting President of the United States who introduced the crime bill Sanders voted for, who signed it into law. I think it fair to say that on the whole our white elected Democratic and Progressive leaders at every level have worked to advance civil rights but, and this might be controversial to some, they have not always worked hard enough. Sometimes they are stymied by Republican opposition, other times they seem to make what they might think are unavoidable expedient concessions to prevailing political realities.

The Black Congressional Caucus (aligned with outside political forces mobilized by people of color) is the political vanguard in the fight for racial justice in America, period. Not Bernie Sanders, certainly, nor even a white President like Bill Clinton who worked first as a Southern Governor and later as our nation's leader to advance the cause of justice in America. I have no problem when you or anyone else points out that Bernie Sanders is not at the very forefront of the fight for racial justice in this country. Nor do I ever disagree that actions speak louder than words. Yet I know in my heart that words still do matter, because there have been many times in my life that the power of words has broken through my unconscious denial and entrenched inertia in the face of realities that must be changed. Words have moved me to action in the past, so I always give some credit to those who speak them toward a positive end.

So on the one hand yes, Bernie Sanders is often given more credit than he deserves for his role in fighting for racial justice in America. On the other hand he also is often denied the credit that he does deserve for doing so, especially when one considers how frequently he is lambasted on that front compared to how the record of most sitting white, Democratic, U.S. Senators is, or more importantly is not, scrutinized.