In Iowa, Sanders Says He Will Address Racial Divisions

[LiberalElite]

Source: ABC News

After bounding atop a blue trailer in a community park, Bernie Sanders quickly reminded people here that Iowa had helped elect the nation's first black president.

The next step, he said, is addressing racial discrimination and the recent shootings of unarmed blacks by law enforcement.

"I know that I speak for all of you that we are sick and tired of reading about and seeing videos of unarmed African-Americans being shot," Sanders said Sunday at a Democratic picnic. "We know that if those individuals were white, the odds are very strong that would not have happened to them."

During three days of campaigning before largely white audiences in Iowa, the Democratic presidential candidate repeatedly vowed to address racism, police brutality and the nation's criminal justice system. It followed disruptions of the senator's appearances in Phoenix and Portland, Oregon, by Black Lives Matter protesters who say his message to cure economic inequality fails to address institutional racism.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/iowa-sanders-address-racial-divisions-33120120

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xposting in Bernie Sanders group

[cosmicone]

1. He sure has experience representing Vermont which is 97% White n/t

Last edited Sun Aug 16, 2015, 08:38 PM - Edit history (1)

[jalan48]

3. Vermot? Sounds alien for sure.

[Uncle Joe]

4. It's kind of ironic that someone from such a lily white state would care about

civil rights, but Bernie has always been expansive in his thinking.

He can and has looked past the trees and seen the forest.

[brentspeak]

41. Exactly

Sanders has never needed the black vote to get elected in Vermont. And if every single black Vermont resident voted against him, he'd still had been elected to both the House and the Senate. But he's still spent his entire congressional career pushing for civil rights, all the same.

A member of Congress who actually doesn't pander to just his electorate or donors -- we don't see that anymore.

[Report1212]

5. He has a much better civil rights record than Clinton

Despite representing a much less diverse state than her.

Guess that speaks well for him, pretty poorly for her.

[George II]

8. Beyond marching with MLK 53 years ago, just what IS that "better civil rights record"?

[salib]

6. I live in Vermont.

That is insulting.

Who the hell do you think you are?

[George II]

9. What is insulting about that? From the United States Census Bureau:

Population, 2014 estimate

Vermont 626,562 USA 318,857,056

White alone, percent, 2013

Vermont 95.2% USA 77.7%

Black or African American alone, percent, 2013

Vermont 1.2% USA 13.2%

That's roughly 7,000 blacks STATE WIDE!

[salib]

22. You know fully well what is insulting.

enough.

[George II]

23. I really don't know.

[Cha]

38. The poster called you a "right winger", George.. I think it is he who is "insulting".

[brentspeak]

42. And yet, thoughout his congressional career, Sanders has pushed for civil rights regardless

Considering how few black people the Vermont electorate has, it hasn't helped him politically one iota to support minority civil rights -- but he's done it all the same.

So all you managed to do was accidentally prove that Sanders is the genuine article and not a phony.

[George II]

45. I don't think I proved anything, accidentally or intentionally. I would love to continue this...

....discussion but I'm afraid any comments I make will be taken out of context turned against me.

Suffice it to say, from the day he marched with MLK (tens of thousands of people did that too, by the way) until the day he entered Congress 26 years later, he was not in a position to make a major impact on civil rights in the United States or, for that matter, in his home state of Vermont.

[George II]

10. Actually only 95.2% white, but also only 1.2% black

[Tom Rinaldo]

11. He has experience as a human being

The whole point of a civil rights movement is that people must be treated equally regardless or racial background etc Is it your point that politicians in Vermont typically aren't strongly pressured by large voting blocks to prioritize addressing issues of racial justice? Fine, a good argument can be made for that position, but Bernie has always taken good positions on racial justice anyway. Will he need to be a more active spokesperson for that cause running for national office? Certainly, and I believe that transformation is underway ad needs to continue, but Bernie's heart has always been in a good place.

[cantbeserious]

14. And Hillary Is In The Pocket Of Wall Street And Corporations - Her Husband Invented The 3rd Way

eom

[cosmicone]

16. Prove that she is in the pocket of Wall Street and Corporations

We need PROOF ... not just BS supporter memes

[cantbeserious]

18. Follow The Money

eom

[cosmicone]

19. What follow the money? Show me proof not clichés

Show me a document where she is in the pocket of wall street and corporations.

[cantbeserious]

20. Here You Go - Wall Street - Large Corporations

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cycle=Career&cid=N00000019

[cosmicone]

25. hahahahahahahahaha

That post PROVES Hillary is not in their "pocket"

1. First of all, those are donations for the ENTIRE CAREER.
2. The donations are divided between Individuals (employees of the company) and PACs. If you looked at it closely, 95% of that money came from INDIVIDUALS as in moms and pops. Only 5% came from PACs.

You have ZERO proof

[George II]

27. Actually even less - 97.5% from individuals and 2.5% from PACs.

[George II]

26. OH geeze...here we go again. You "CANTBESERIOUS"!!!

WHY is it no one around here can understand campaign finance laws????

Look at the footnote (and link) below that chart.

This table lists the top donors to this candidate in 1999-2016. The organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organizations' PACs, their individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

Of those top 20 "donors", the total was $8,388,021 and $8,181,675 (97.5%) CAME FROM INDIVIDUALS, only $206,346 came from PACs organized by those 20 "donors".

Why do you ask did she get almost $800,000 from EMPLOYEES of Citigroup? Because they're headquartered in NY (where she ran twice for Senator) and they have tens of thousands of employees in New York.

Now, why don't employees from Citigroup wind up near the top of Sanders' list of contributors? Because Citigroup has very few, if any, employees in Vermont and up until a few months ago Sanders participated only in elections within the state of Vermont.

PLEASE bookmark this so the next time this question arises you can read it again.

Thanks!

[cantbeserious]

28. I Can Be Serious - Many Of Those Large Firms Force Their Senior Executives To Donate

This is well known.

However, since the advent of Citizens United, we don't know who is donating.

I still call HRC in the pocket of Wall Street and Large Corporations.

[cosmicone]

29. A senator from California gets donations from Silicon Valley employees

and a senator from Michigan gets donations from auto industry.

Neither means they are in the "Pocket" of that group and claiming that is a very SERIOUS charge of corruption.

Then again, one could say that Bernie is in the pocket of chicken-coop farmers or bee keepers. Just because Vermont has almost no industry is not Hillary Clinton's fault.

[cantbeserious]

30. Money Always Demands Favors Were Politics Is Concerned

eom

[cosmicone]

34. Demands favors is different -- everyone demands favors

The question is calling a senator corrupt without any evidence

[George II]

33. It's been reported that Ben and Jerry really put the screws to their employees to give to Sanders!!!

[cosmicone]

35. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahaha n/t

[George II]

32. Bullshit! It's "well known", just as "it's been reported" or "rumors are..."

I'm sure you have a source for that?

[cantbeserious]

36. A Bit Naive

eom

[George II]

37. Realistic....."eom"

[dragonfly301]

31. Are you sure you want to make this an issue?

Not that it matters but since you seem to be trying to make it an issue - he was born and raised in Brooklyn and went to college on the south side of Chicago - pretty sure both locations are more diverse than Park Ridge Il (1960 99.9% Black) or Wellesley!

[George II]

46. And as soon as he graduated from college he high-tailed it out of that urban environment.

If he was truly dedicated to advancing the plight of minorities, he would have either stayed in Chicago or returned to Brooklyn.

But he didn't.

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, LiberalElite.

[George II]

7. According to many here, he's already done that.

"the Democratic presidential candidate repeatedly vowed to address racism, police brutality and the nation's criminal justice system"

He's been saying this for weeks.

Now, will he admit that he was one of those in Congress who enabled "the nation's criminal justice system" as it exists today?

[Uncle Joe]

12. Bernie spoke eloquently against mass incarceration and/or the disproportinate numbers

of blacks imprisoned in 1991 and 1994.

It's too bad the rest of Congress didn't listen to him.

[George II]

13. And then he voted for the legislation. And people are calling other politicians "hypocrites"?

[Uncle Joe]

15. As I said he tried to talk them out of it, the crime bill did have one redeeming portion which the

Republicans didn't want but Sanders supported, the Violence Against Women Act.

This also occurred after Waco in 1993.

[cosmicone]

17. So he chose women and let the blacks hang out to dry n/t

[Uncle Joe]

21. As I said he tried to talk them out of it but they; ie President Clinton and the Congress

didn't listen.

http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/2012/04/24/bill-clinton-was-incredibly-destructive-for-black-people/

There are so many ways that the Clinton Presidency was toxic to black people in particular and people of color in general. I will periodically highlight some of his greatest hits against black people in the coming weeks. Today I want to focus on one piece of legislation that the U.S. Congress passed in 1994 which is still reverberating in 2012. The 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill (spearheaded by Joe Biden and Bill Clinton) cost $30 billion dollars and helped to accelerate the growth of the prison industrial complex in ways that we are only just beginning to understand. The bill’s provisions included:

[blackspade]

40. Keep trying to drive that wedge.

[blackspade]

39. This is great!

[Comrade Grumpy]

43. Much of the discussion in this forum is nothing more than trollery.

This thread is an excellent example.

[Comrade Grumpy]

44. The response to this ought to be "That's a good thing!"

Instead we get "he's from a lily-white state" and "he voted wrong on a bill 20 years ago."