Should Bernie Sanders Have Used the N-Word to 'Critique Racism' in His Book?

[comradebillyboy]

Independent Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ campaign defended the candidate’s use of the uncensored n-word in a 1997 book, a defense that many people aren’t buying. Was it appropriate, and was Sanders “critiquing racism,” or excusing it?

The passage from Sanders’ 1997 book “Outsider in the House” was first surfaced by The Daily Caller — itself a hotbed of white nationalism that was founded by Fox News host and white supremacy-denier Tucker Carlson — and contained two uses of the uncensored n-word in quotation marks.

In the portion that the site quoted, Sanders wrote:

“For a hundred years, the white workers of the South were the most exploited white workers in America. They were paid the lowest wages, they endured the worst working conditions, their housing was abysmal, their kids went to the most backward schools, and very few could send their children to college. But what did they have? They were given ‘niggers’ to hate and look down on, ‘niggers’ who couldn’t vote, drink at their water fountains, use the same bathrooms, or sit up front in the buses or movie theaters.”

https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/should-bernie-sanders-have-used-the-n-word-to-critique-racism-in-his-book/

[WA-03 Democrat]

1. Weak

There is context.

[crazytown]

2. No idea.

What concerns me is the empathy Sanders has for the 'most exploited white workers' vs the N's - The Other.

[George II]

4. Precisely. If he really cares about working Americans, he wouldn't separate out...

..."white workers" from all the other workers. And that wasn't written in his "formative years" when he was younger, which has been the rationale used for his racial insensitivity. This was 1997 at the age of 56.

[hedda_foil]

5. I don't know how you're getting that from the mediate post.

He's saying that the poor whites were given black people to demean and feel superior to so they wouldn't notice their own poverty and stagnation. It's a true statement and the N word is used in that context.

[NYMinute]

8. He could have said it without using the N word nt

[Cha]

55. Yes BS could have written it without

that hurtful word.

He needs to apologize, imo.

[crazytown]

10. I would have to read the book

to know after considering the perspective of poor whites, Sanders goes on to consider how the world looked for blacks who in a worse position in just about every way.

[DrToast]

15. Yes, it's a variation of an old LBJ quote.

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." -LBJ

[zentrum]

19. That's it.

[dsc]

54. Johnson's quote predates Sanders by 30 years

and he doesn't use the n word even then. I get Sanders point but no white person should be using that word.

[mr_lebowski]

79. I really don't think there's anything wrong with it in this context ...

Scholarly and historical-type contexts are wildly different than walking up to black folks and calling them that.

[zentrum]

18. This

[cstanleytech]

21. Agreed and I am not even a Bernie supporter.

On the other hand I don't oppose him being president because let's face it just about anybody would be better than Trump.

[JI7]

29. those whites chose racism .

[treestar]

32. LBJ said the same thing without invoking the N word

and LBJ was known to be kind of vulgar.

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
~
LYNDON B. JOHNSON, 1960, remark to Bill Moyers, "What a Real President Was Like," Washington Post, 13 November 1988

[NYMinute]

6. He didn't have to use the N word ... I think it is a dog whistle nt

[Cha]

60. That's right.. it's hurtful.. most

people know that.

[TCJ70]

61. Then you don't know what a dog whistle is...n/t

[NYMinute]

64. I know what it is and in this case, the shoe fits. nt

[mr_lebowski]

77. It's clear that what he's saying is "Out of ALL White Workers" ...

The ones in the South were the most exploited.

So ... Sanders is supposed to NOT have empathy for exploited workers ... cause they're white, and from the South?

I don't hear him expressing much empathy in that quote, but I'd expect all exploited workers to get at least some empathy from a Liberal even if they're the bad 'white' kind.

[George II]

3. Use of that word was unnecessary.

[pnwpolicy]

7. Should Harper Lee have written the n word?

Discuss this very sincere debate, here on Democratic Underground.

[NYMinute]

9. Harper Lee is not running for POTUS nor was she an elected official. nt

[BannonsLiver]

16. I must have missed the part where Harper Lee was alive and running for president.

Intellectually lazy whataboutisms aside.

[Cha]

44. Precisely.

[Cha]

43. Sorry. this has Nothing to do with Harper Lee.

[LanternWaste]

85. Should artists and politicians maintain precisely the same standards of usage in all things?

No?

Then please explain any relevance your false-equivalency possesses. Even if that pretense of relevance is qualified by an alleged sincerity.

[Gothmog]

11. No

[Cuthbert Allgood]

12. I see a lot of Biden threads where people say what he did in the past doesn't matter.

But now this does? You can't have it both ways.

And for the record, there was a pretty serious debate in 1997 about whether not saying the word in the context of critical discussion gave it more power. I did a lot of research about that as I taught Huck Finn. The thoughts today (and how I handle it) are much different. Because 2019 is significantly different than 1997.

tl:dr--I don't have a huge problem with it in context of the year it was written.

[comradebillyboy]

14. It was OK to use the N-word n 1997? I think not.

When I was in basic training in 1970 it was made clear to all of us that that word was unacceptable.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

24. I didn't say OK.

I said about using it in an academic discussion and with context regarding giving it power. But if it makes you happy to say I was arguing it was "OK to use" then make yourself happy--but it doesn't reflect my point.

[BannonsLiver]

20. There was no "pretty serious debate" in the 90s about this.

That’s nonsense. Bullshit, as they say.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

23. Yes there was.

Two of the bigger stars having the debate were Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino (re: Tarantino's scene in Pulp Fiction about his garage as storage).

[Cuthbert Allgood]

27. Whatever makes you happy.

[BannonsLiver]

30. It makes me happy when people don't try to justify racial slurs

Based on some nonsense about a great debate about this in the 90s when one scene in one movie apparently makes up the totality of the evidence.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

31. I'm not justifying racial slurs.

I don't think Sanders used it that way and it is not something I'm arguing for.

So, please don't frame my argument as such. It makes your position look desperate.

[LanternWaste]

35. Ironic you allege others look desperate.

But of course... not justifying at all, but rather rationalization.

Two wholly separate concepts.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

37. Creating a strawman looks desperate.

I am not trying, in any way, to justify or rationalize the use of racial slurs as racial slurs. Just the use of them in academic discussion.

[Cha]

45. No, you don't get to accuse him of looking "desperate".

[Cuthbert Allgood]

49. Yeah, actually I do. That's how discussion boards work.

[Cha]

50. Yeah.. because you have nothing but

an insult. No is "desperate" here.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

56. So you clearly haven't read my responses, because I have more than insults.

And pointing out a strawman argument is not an insult, anyway. Do you think that committing a logical fallacy isn't desperate?

Also confused why you put "desperate" in quotation marks. I don't think that means what you think it means.

[Cha]

58. No one is "desperate" as you accuse.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

62. So committing a fallacy as an argument isn't desperate?

You think fallacies are fine?

[Cha]

65. He needs to apologize for using

the hurtful word.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

66. So you're conceding the use of fallacies is desperate.

Good to know.

[treestar]

33. well that's quite over generalized

and anyway, Bernie is not going to escape, as Joe did not escape.

[seaglass]

36. And re-released in 2015 with an audio version - that OK too? n/t

[Cuthbert Allgood]

38. Are you opposed to Huck Finn as a full audio version?

[seaglass]

41. Bernie Sanders is no Mark Twain lol. I'm opposed to Bernie using that word when others would have

sufficed.

[Cha]

46. Your WhatABout is NOT working.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

57. That isn't whataboutism. Nice try, though.

It's about consistency. Trying to see where lines are drawn.

So, do you object to an audiobook version of Huck Finn that is not changed from the original text?

[Cha]

59. BS was wrong to write the hurtful

word and then make it into an audio in 2015.

He needs to apologize and move on.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

63. You're avoiding the question.

Huck Finn audio book unedited--you're not OK with that?

[TCJ70]

48. Why would it not be? N/t

[LanternWaste]

87. I (allege to) see a lot of things as well. It does not imply they are all of one collective.

It's either irrational or disingenuous to pretend otherwise.

I doubt you're disingenuous.

[Peacetrain]

13. Simply NO! just no..

[BannonsLiver]

17. This is disqualifying.

[zentrum]

22. It's clear he's critiquing

...racism. The n-word is in quotes plus, he's making the argument that racism was stirred up to prevent an economic analysis.

The context and reason for the word is clear.

He didn't work with Strom Thurman to prevent busing like someone else did.

[TCJ70]

25. I don't see anything wrong with it...

...given the quotes. It's clear he's not just flippantly using the word just to use it but to express how that was the word used to otherize people. There's another thread on this subject where someone only had the audio book and was up in arms about it. Makes sense since you can't really express quotes in an audio book. I think in the next passages he uses the word black to refer to them.

Whatever.

[JI7]

28. i thought it was worse in that he seemed to be making excuses for white racists

[LincolnRossiter]

34. Not a Bernie fan. But I have no problem with this academic evaluation of US history or Bernie's use

of a very powerful historical word.

He equates economic justice with social and racial justice. I don’t necessarily agree, but that’s the sincerest part of him and I, as a black man, bear no ill will.

I just think he’s kind of selfish and unhelpful as a progressive politician.

[aikoaiko]

39. I don't know if a lot of serious writers were using the euphemism of n-word yet in 1997.

It was either the word or avoided completely.

[comradebillyboy]

40. There were plenty of better alternatives even then...nt

[Cha]

42. Hell No.. not according to more than a few POC

whom I've seen posting and tweeting about it.

[NurseJackie]

76. I know... he has certainly reinforced a certain perception that many have about him.

It's really surprising to me that he hasn't apologized or expressed some sense of regret. This is just a small piece in a larger jigsaw puzzle that helps the public to understand what type of man he is and which direction his moral compass points. It's just one thing that people can use to learn more about the man, or that people can use to confirm things they felt fairly confident about in the first place.

Everyone has to arrive at their own conclusions. I know that I certainly have...

[Cha]

47. Imani Gandy.. He wasn't quoting anybody.

Link to tweet

He... needs to apologize, imo.

Thank you for bringing more attention to this, comradebillyboy. I can imagine if it were any other 2020 candidate.

[TreasonousBastard]

51. Ohferchrissakes-- why even ask? It was 1997 and white people using that word was just...

not acceptable. It was not the time for even satirically using it.

Even rappers and gangstas seem to be getting away from it because it brings too much pain. Real pain, from when people meant it when they said it.

So, of course he should not have used it. The question may be whether he used it because he was racist, or clueless.

[RhodeIslandOne]

71. Barack Obama used it three years ago on a podcast

Was that wrong too? In a completely descriptive context?

[TreasonousBastard]

72. Barack Obama is not white. And, context matters.

[RhodeIslandOne]

73. But you just said rappers and such are moving away from it

I disagree with that assessment, but anyway.

Absolutely the context matters. I don't believe Bernie Sanders was throwing it out there to "get a rise" anymore than Barack Obama was (and was accused of by the right).

[Cha]

74. I don't think Sanders should have

used that hurtful word.. and neither does Imani Gandy..

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

75. I agree with Cha

[Cha]

88. Thanks Goth.. it's

kind of a no brainer to me. If POC find it wrong then it's wrong.

[Joe941]

52. This is a hit piece - simple as that. A nothing burger.

[Cha]

53. BS didn't need to write the hurtful

word and then have it in audio in 2015.

I think he should apologize and move on.

[SidDithers]

67. He wasn't critiquing racism...

Link to tweet

Jeff Fecke @jkfecke
Bernie didn't bring out the n-word to critique bigotry. He brought it out to make excuses for poor Southern whites.

Sid

[JI7]

68. exactly , i see that as the bigger problem than use of the N word itself which maybe could

be explained in context. but in this context it's use is even worse.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

83. This.

[Bradical79]

84. He highlighted the use of bigotry to divide and conquer

It's not an "excuse", it's something that happened.

[MrsCoffee]

89. Bingo.

Nailed it.

[JI7]

69. Why does Sanders view White Racists as the Victims of RAcism ?

they chose their bigotry over better economic opportunity .

[betsuni]

70. Yes, why do they get the benefit of the doubt?

When Democrats never get the benefit of the doubt.

[Bradical79]

86. I think they shouldn't

They were used and manipulated, but that was only possible because most were already racist. Both moderates (and some socialists) tell me we need to appeal to these people though.

What Bernie said in that quote is accurate, that they were given an "other" to hate as a distraction from what was being done to themselves. It was part of the Southern strategy, is the entire basis of the Trump immigration policy, and a key strategy for Fascists in general. Just about every member here has expressed, or agreed with, a quote like that at one time or another, but with different language (and a different messenger).

[BlueMississippi]

78. I think it was to endear his base which is 99% white nt

[Hortensis]

80. Done it myself to make a point. Nothing else so succinctly

conveys that immense ugliness.

My attitude for those who leap to criticize hinges on the same questions as for those who use it: Who are they and what's their intent? Imo, Sanders passes the intent test and some of those who criticize him, believing themselves to taking the high ground, do not.

There's no high ground for meanness.

[Srkdqltr]

81. So. Everyone on this thread read the book

In 1997 or so and that word is all that is remembered?? Same goes for To Kill Mockingbird? I don't understand.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

82. No, and the fact that people think it's okay to use it to "critique racism" shows how much work

still needs to be done among people who count themselves as allies.

[Cha]

90. KICK!