He clearly wishes to address institutional racism as part of his economic package, which would materially improve the lives of all Americans. It would, and what he's always seemed to believe is that if you take care of economic injustice, then ending or mitigating most institutional racism will fall into place as part of that.
Unfortunately for him, those who have been personally discriminated against didn't buy that. They want social justice now.
These are people who have had an unarmed family member shot to death by police in questionable circumstances and with no consequence (to the cop). They are people who are old enough to remember klan terror. Or they have had relatives killed in a mass shooting by a right-wing nut job who drove ten hours to kill people of color.
And it isn't just violence. POC have to live with this every day - retail clerks following them around in stores, salespeople offering them an inferior product or the same product at higher interest, differences in service and personal caring levels in hospital - and a thousand and one more examples.
Bernie's heart is in the right place, of course, and to call him racist, or imply he is somehow racist, is simply not true. However, like myself, he does enjoy white privilege, and it may seem smug to many for him to impatiently shrug off those conversations, or even handle them poorly - both of which he has done.
You should note, too, with your survey, that for some on here it will feel like poking a stick into an open wound and twisting. I'm not saying you should take it down, but I will say that there are some very strong feelings on this site, and there are some people who have an almost irrational dislike of Sanders, just as there are those who have an almost irrational dislike of Clinton.
I was a big Bernie supporter in '16 and even got banned from specific forums a couple times. But when he lost and Clinton became the nominee, I supported her. And I voted. What sticks in the craw of many here, who love the party, is that lots of the kids Bernie got 'turned on' to politics and motivated to come out and vote turned around and either pouted at home and did not vote, or worse, voted for Jill Stein or even Johnson the Libertarian.
Now, as the father of two millennials, I certainly understand their cynicism. But I'm thinking that more people now are 'woke,' particularly about climate change. I think they will show up this time. You can't vote Stein and expect to achieve anything by that. Same with the 'purity' socialists. Like Obama said, we cannot allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good.
I wish you the best, and Bernie the best, but this time around I believe both Bernie and Biden supporters will be surprised at the softness of their support. My hope is that they coalesce around whomever emerges. I certainly will.
Don't be surprised, though, if you catch some real blowback from this post. It is a bit divisive and seems designed to 'stir' the proverbial pot.
Congratulations to our presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden!
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