2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumBernie Sanders on Racial Justice
We must pursue policies that transform this country into a nation that affirms the value of its people of color. That starts with addressing the four central types of violence waged against black and brown Americans: physical, political, legal and economic.
PHYSICAL VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY THE STATE
Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, Rekia Boyd, Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, Tamir Rice, Samuel DuBose. We know their names. Each of them died unarmed at the hands of police officers or in police custody. The chants are growing louder. People are angry and they have a right to be angry. We should not fool ourselves into thinking that this violence only affects those whose names have appeared on TV or in the newspaper. African Americans are twice as likely to be arrested and almost four times as likely to experience the use of force during encounters with the police.
PERPETRATED BY EXTREMISTS
We are far from eradicating racism in this country. In June, nine of our fellow Americans were murdered while praying in a historic church because of the color of their skin. This violence fills us with outrage, disgust, and a deep, deep sadness. Today in America, if you are black, you can be killed for getting a pack of Skittles during a basketball game. These hateful acts of violence amount to acts of terror. They are perpetrated by extremists who want to intimidate and terrorize black and brown people in this country.
ADDRESSING PHYSICAL VIOLENCE
It is an outrage that in these early years of the 21st century we are seeing intolerable acts violence being perpetuated by police, and racist terrorism by white supremacists.
A growing number of communities do not trust the police and law enforcement officers have become disconnected from the communities they are sworn to protect. Violence and brutality of any kind, particularly at the hands of the police sworn to protect and serve our communities, is unacceptable and must not be tolerated. We need a societal transformation to make it clear that black lives matter and racism cannot be accepted in a civilized country.
*We must demilitarize our police forces so they dont look and act like invading armies.
*We must invest in community policing. Only when we get officers into the communities, working within neighborhoods before trouble arises, do we develop the relationships necessary to make our communities safer together. Among other things, that means increasing civilian oversight of police departments.
*We need police forces that reflect the diversity of our communities.
*At the federal level we need to establish a new model police training program that reorients the way we do law enforcement in this country. With input from a broad segment of the community including activists and leaders from organizations like Black Lives Matter we will reinvent how we police America.
*We need to federally fund and require body cameras for law enforcement officers to make it easier to hold them accountable.
Our Justice Department must aggressively investigate and prosecute police officers who break the law and hold them accountable for their actions.
*We need to require police departments and states to provide public reports on all police shootings and deaths that take place while in police custody.
*We need new rules on the allowable use of force. Police officers need to be trained to de-escalate confrontations and to humanely interact with people who have mental illnesses.
*States and localities that make progress in this area should get more federal justice grant money. Those that do not should get their funding slashed.
*We need to make sure the federal resources are there to crack down on the illegal activities of hate groups.
<snip>
https://berniesanders.com/issues/racial-justice/
Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)PatrickforO
(14,592 posts)we can't allow the establishment to use the Rove strategy of making a perceived strength into a weakness and using this wedge to divide us so we don't elect the one person who would do the most for BLM.
The bottom line is the BLM is getting used by the establishment to be that wedge. If you think the movement's leaders aren't aware of this, then check out what was tweeted out after the Seattle disruption - 'destroy the enemy.'
So the question is, do we want the kind of change that results in a just society for ALL of us, or what?
post that tweet for those of us who aren't tweeters?
What's the context? Am I the "enemy" to be destroyed?
PatrickforO
(14,592 posts)LWolf
(46,179 posts)Point stands.
There are a plethora of others mirroring the same dismissive, disgusting attitude.
Sorry, people like this ARE the enemy. Full stop.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)Tell me more.
Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)Then get back to me on that.
They're squarely in your camp and free to roam about the place.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)Sander's supporters who support the overall goals of BLM, but not yesterday's action, are the enemy?
Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)as stated.
No paraphrasing or twisting required.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)That's the message I'm getting. I'm asking you to confirm that I'm understanding you correctly, or let me know that I've got it wrong.
Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)This issue been discussed ad infinitum.
It's abundantly clear that you all don't get it. Bottom line, you have some house-keeping issues to tend to. As long as you have these attitudes running rampant in your ranks, you will continue have problems.
Keep it up, is all I have to add at this point.
cyberswede
(26,117 posts)That disgusting post is hardly indicative of "attitudes running rampant" - either on DU or by Sanders supporters in general.
Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)"idiots, dumbasses, children, thugs, and fools"
Stop just short of going for it.
These are just of few of the attitudes that are rampant within the Bernie camp.
cyberswede
(26,117 posts)The one post where they were called those names was hidden.
I don't see that as "rampant."
Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)Now you're being a bit disingenuous.
They're everywhere...
It's rampant, just as I said.
cyberswede
(26,117 posts)I've seen posts here objecting to the protesters' tactics (both Seattle and Netroots), but I've not seen "rampant" examples of DUers using blatant racist insults like those you linked to.
The two examples you provided were HIDDEN - which indicates to me that such sentiments are NOT acceptable to DUers - regardless of preferred candidate.
If views such as those you provided are rampant, it should be easy to provide additional examples.
...by the way, do you have an opinion on the content of the OP above? Are Sanders' positions on that website good positions? Would they be viewed as reasonable responses to the concerns of BLM activists? I think that's really the important thing.
aikoaiko
(34,184 posts)PatrickforO
(14,592 posts)if elected. Basically, BLM is like a marathon runner shooting him/herself in the foot prior to the start of the race. To attack the strongest ally does NOTHING but play into the hands of the REAL evil racists like the Koch brothers and most Republican politicians.
demmiblue
(36,896 posts)It is easy to link to troll posts to slander Sanders supporters, but what do you think about the ideas?
PatrickforO
(14,592 posts)about stupid and unjust shit like having their kids be killed for no reason by 'roidal and adrenaline pumping cops, for being stopped and frisked just because of their skin color, of not being able to get the best loan rates and having clerks follow them around in stores so they don't 'steal,' and having 1 in 4 of their young men sent to prison. All that SUCKS.
But tearing down the one guy who will do the most to change these things if elected is self-destructive to the max. As I've said in other posts, BLM aren't the only people in the tent, and we've all got to work together, or a Republican (or DINO in the case of Hillary) will be elected and we'll keep going backwards.
Like it or not, we live in an oligarchic police state that was once a republic and can be again if we elect the right people. But disrupting an ally and destroying his primary campaign will do NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING for the African-American cause except damage it. If the best thing for African Americans happens and Bernie is elected, we STILL need 200 more seats in Congress to support him. And, we need to take over from establishment Dems at the grass roots level - school boards, local governments, state legislatures.
For the BLM to attack Bernie is shortsighted at best, stupid at worst - they are being manipulated by the tentacles of the capitalist overlords, and are coming through swimmingly.
PatrickforO
(14,592 posts)They are very good. In fact, they are everything the BLM movement supposedly wants from Bernie.
Unfortunately the goalposts seem to be moving, and JUST for Bernie, not for anyone else.
okasha
(11,573 posts)whether Sanders' talking points are everything they want. If the demonstration yesterday is any indication, they aren't.
And when you produce inanities like "BLM is being manipulated by the tentacles of the establishment, " you fundamentally deny that people of color are capable of identifying their own best interests and choosing their allies accordingly.
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,714 posts)The second post you cited is one of the most blatantly racist post I have ever seen on an ostensibly liberal board. The only thing missing is a noose.
WoW
cyberswede
(26,117 posts)I hope nobody is claiming that the words in that post reflect Sanders's views...or DUers' views, for that matter.
On edit: I see BOTH those posts were hidden. As they should have been. It's pretty disingenuous to imply those posts reflect the views of typical Sanders supporters.
Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)2 of them...
cyberswede
(26,117 posts)There are some DUers who refuse to hide any post, because "free speech" or something.
There are some DUers who refrain from hiding posts because they want a poster's shit to show for everyone to see.
There are some jury members who are trolls & love the shit show.
There are probably some jury members who are racists (remember AverageJoe90?).
Admins can see how jurors voted - have they ever banned someone for a jury vote? Should they?
The bottom line is the post was hidden. DUers decided it wasn't ok. That's a good result.
Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)Full stop.
Look, the past several weeks (and especially the last 24 hours) have been a real eye-opener.
This board has become an embarrassment.
I stand with bravenak. She tried to tell you, and you all shut her down.
This tap dancing around the truth is equally sickening.
Done here, I've seen enough ass-covering for the day.
cyberswede
(26,117 posts)What can be done about it? Some jurors are shitheads.
I'm not sure to whom you are referring as "you" and "you all" - bravenak is one if my favorite DUers, and it's awful that she was alert-stalked and is on time-out.
If you're saying that I'm covering someone's ass, you'll have to be more specific, because I have no idea what you're referring to.
The two posts you linked to were blatantly racist. Is my pointing out that they were (rightly) hidden "ass-covering?" Is my asking for additional examples "tap dancing around the truth?"
You say posts like that are rampant. I disagree. If you provide additional links to support your claim, I could be persuaded to agree with you.
cyberswede
(26,117 posts)Especially anonymous posters on a message board - and certainly not a germane rebuttal to the OP.