Why progressives are fighting about Bernie Sanders and race...It's about the progressive movement

[Dems2002]

I've been a member of The Underground since the 2000 election. My username reflects my desire to fight immediately to win back the House in 2002. As we all know, it didn't quite work out that way. I did do my part, taking a job running local political campaigns in 2002, and I did that work for ten years throughout California.

I called myself a populist when the people at my consulting firm were all calling themselves progressives and hadn't a clue as to the distinction. Maybe it is my working class roots coupled with being a first gen college grad, but living in the Bay Area, I've been as frustrated by my rich, liberal friends as much as my crazy racist tea party relatives.

A key reason our country has the worst social safety net in the world is due in large part to racism. People are willing to have less for themselves and their families in order for "those people" to not have anything free. And a lot of White Progressives want gold stars for being "less racist" than members of the tea party and being horrifed at the thought of using the "n word" all the while sending their kids to all white private schools and obliviously gentrifying neighborhood after neighborhood.

The language I am seeing tossed around this forum around the #BlackLivesMatter protesters is infuriating to me. They were rude, they didn't do it right, blah blah blah. That is how protest works. It is not polite. It is in our face and uncomfortable.

If we are going to have any chance at all of truly taking our country back from the elites, white progressives are going to have to put on our big boy and girl pants and shut the fuck up. Racism has absolutely been used by the elites to divide us economically. Not just the racism of the tea party, but the racism that has been fostered in all of us through living in an inherent, racist society. And until we are willing to let our black brothers and sisters have the floor and power and follow them rather than telling them, we know better and that they should sit down or go to the back, we will never succeed against the elites. They live for this divide.

I am a huge Bernie Sanders fan. He is absolutely the guy I am supporting for President. But while I know it takes a massive ego to run for President, I sure as hell hope he believes his own message that this isn't about him, it is about us. And the Protesters are US. And maybe it is time they teach Bernie that the time is now. I hope we can all learn together. Because I fully believe that if we do, we will all win.


There is a legitimate disconnect between the way Sanders (and many of the economic progressives who support him) see the world, and the way many racial justice progressives see the world. To Bernie Sanders, as I've written, racial inequality is a symptom — but economic inequality is the disease. That's why his responses to unrest in Ferguson and Baltimore have included specific calls for police accountability, but have focused on improving economic opportunity for young African Americans. Sanders presents fixing unemployment as the systemic solution to the problem.

Many racial justice advocates don't see it that way. They see racism as its own systemic problem that has to be addressed on its own terms. They feel that it's important to acknowledge the effects of economic inequality on people of color, but that racial inequality isn't merely a symptom of economic inequality. And, most importantly, they feel that "pivoting" to economic issues can be a way for white progressives to present their agenda as the progressive agenda and shove black progressives, and the issues that matter most to them, to the sidelines. So Sanders's performance at Netroots confirmed the frustrations that his critics felt. And Sanders's supporters' reaction to the criticism was just as predictable.

To Sanders's critics, the "but the civil rights movement!" response isn't just irrelevant, it's insulting. "It's like they're almost trying to outblack us," says Morrow. "'Oh, you're a black person, what could you possibly understand about our candidate? He was marching before you were even born!' That's cool, but you gotta stay on top of it."


This isn't about the presidential campaign, it's about the progressive movement

[link:http://www.vox.com/2015/7/20/9001639/bernie-sanders-black-lives-matter|

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. The fighting looks a lot like myopia.

People are so incredibly focused on the Presidential race that they refuse to believe that anything that interacts with the race isn't a deliberate ploy to bolster one candidate or depress another.

Black Lives Matter was a movement before the race even started. This is an opportunity for our candidates to embrace the movement, and the people it represents. To unite the party behind a push for more real justice.

[Dems2002]

3. Agreed

I agree. There is a conference happening in Cleveland this weekend and I hope Bernie inquires if thhere is space for him to listen. I don't think it is a venue where him speaking "at" them would be at all well received. But a dialogue could be profound.

[HappyPlace]

2. You nailed it.

The part about the cluelessness of many in our region (the Bay Area).

Disconnection from the painful lives that many lead breeds a very special brand of "progressive" here.

I'll leave it at that.

Go Bernie. He "Gets It".

[HooptieWagon]

4. If Bernies 50+ year support of civil rights doesn't impress you,...

Then why do you think destroying him will impress "white progressives"? There's a big disconnect in the movement. Wrong time, wrong target, wrong tactic. If not progressives, who's your ally? That's not a DLCesque brush off, it's a serious question. Both sides need each other, but dialog and respect are two-way streets. I'm sorry there isn't a black Dem candidate who's stepped forward, but that's no reason to attack a viable white one. If he needs help crafting his platform, then help him, don't scream at him. Suppose progressives had attacked Obama in a similar manner in '07? How would you feel?

[Dems2002]

5. Where is he "being destoryed?"

Confrontation isn't destruction...unless Sanders has feet of clay. There was a guy a few years ago who talked passionately about economic justice...while having major clay feet, and I am glad he dropped out prior to the California primary in 2008.

I do not think Bernie is Edwards whatsoever. But if he is unwilling to be led by the young people he has specifically told are the point and his only chance of success...then there is a problem we'd all be better off learning now rather than later.

It is shocking to me to see Democrats complain about confrontation and agitation. That is movement politics. It has never been pretty. And our need to make it so is how we are controlled By the MSM.

They were impolite because politeness gets jack shit. I am sorry you prefer your black people bowing and scraping and saying yes'em while doffing their caps and getting drenched in shit. I am glad that there are strong, young people agitating and saying fuck you. Even to Bernie Sanders. Because what have you done for me lately is a legitimate question. As is a demand to be front and center to recognize that this systemic racism crap needs to be addressed in his platform.

For the new Civil Rights Teams that have sprung up in the wake of Ferguson, this isn't about Bernie, it is about them. And that is as it should be. That is how we all should be. We do not need some messiah. We need a movement.