(ThyBlackMan.com) I’ve never been a fan of Bernie Sanders. There is no particular reason. I just don’t like the dude. To me, Sanders come off as a boring, out of touch old man at best and a disingenuous centrist masquerading as a progressive. But that’s just my personal opinion. That said, a lot of Black people do support and even defend him, however. I believe this blind faith in Sanders is misguided. To date, Sanders is fond of touting his legacy of civil rights activism, which only lasted about three years, as a motivating factor for Black people to support him. This unquestioned loyalty and allegiance I find troubling. However, is this allegiance based on any tangible efforts of the 2020 presidential candidate? Is he really concerned that the civil rights of Black people in this country are protected? To find out, we must examine Sanders involvement in the civil rights movement in the past – because as they say, past behavior is an indicator of future behavior
According to Tim Murray with Mother Jones, Sanders participation in the civil rights movement was brief and localized and primarily restricted to the Hyde Park area of Chicago. His track record consists of one arrest where he paid a fine of $25 and was released. But to his credit, Sanders did attend the March on Washington while attending the University of Chicago, and was involved in the campus student chapter of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) after transferring to Brooklyn College in 1961. There he discovered a university owned off campus apartment building that refused to rent to Black students. This was in violation of the school’s own policy. CORE organized a 15-day sit-in at the administration building.
The protest ended unceremoniously when the university president agreed to study the racist policy. Later on, Sanders allegedly became anger with the administration for not following through on its promises, as well as refusal to answer question from students on its integration plan. As a result of his out of classroom social justice activities, his grades suffered and Sanders left the organization in 1964. That’s it. So, in short: Sanders civil rights activistism ended before he graduated from college, lasted about three years from (1961 to 1964), and was restricted to the upper middleclass neighborhood of Hyde Park in Chicago. In my view, that’s hardly the activity of someone who is concerned with the well being of African Americans across the United States. Despite any recent civil rights activity, or any meaningful efforts, Sanders has managed to galvanize support from some pretty heavy hitters in the Black community.
Activist and journalist Shaun King became an active supporter during Sanders first bid for the presidency in 2016 and continues to support his 2020 campaign. King wrote, in a Facebook post endorsing the candidate, that he endorses @Bernie Sanders to become our next candidacy because:
1.) Bernie has a 50 state plan with 50 state teams that can beat Donald Trump.
2.) He trusts Bernie, because he’s a man of his word who has been fighting for everyday people for 50+ years.
3.) He’s always learning. He continues to grow and evolve and is someone who integrates this new knowledge in his speeches and his plans.
4.) His campaign staff is brilliant, diverse, and skilled from the top down and really wants to change the world.
5.) He shares Sanders core views on about 95 percent of the issues: from justice reform to campaign finance to climate change to pay equity to gun control to Medicare For All to affordable housing. While this is quite an endorsement, it falls short of convincing me that Sanders “new knowledge” or politically correct “talking points” can be transferred into concrete action that would focus specifically on the needs and aspirations of the Black community as a whole. According to Jeremy Fassler with Medium, “Going into 2020 Sanders wants to prove to Black voters that he has their best interest at heart.”
Another big supporter can be found in Nina Turner, Sanders campaign manager. Turner is a former Ohio state senator who switched from supporting Hillary Clinton in 2016 to Sanders – then threw her support behind Green Party candidate Jill Stein after Sanders lost (as an aside, Stein asked Turner to be her running mate which she declined.) Turner is also the former president of Our Revolution. Sometimes referred to as simply OR. Our Revolution is an American progressive political action organization spun out of Sanders 2016 presidential campaign. There is also Sanders refusal to address the topic of reparations for Black people for the sins of slavery.
On the ABC talk show The View, Sanders responded to host Sunny Hostin question of cash payments for the descendants of slaves with, “I think what we have got to do is pay attention to distressed communities: black communities, Latino communities, and white communities, and as president, I pledge to do that.” That appears to be a nonanswer in my opinion. Also, on the popular syndicated morning show The Breakfast Club, based out of New York City, Sanders responded to host Charlemagne Tha God inquiry on the topic with a vague and noncommittal response. “What do you mean by reparations? … To my mind, it means that we have to deal with the fact that there is enormous disparity between the Black community and the White community.” In an attempt to gain more clarity, Tha God persisted: “I think they mean some type of economic empowerment to African descendants of slaves. Cash payout? Why don’t you agree with that?” Sanders response continued with more of the usual drivel that Black folks have become seemingly accustomed to from those who have no real interest in our concerns.
So, it seems to me that Mr. Sanders has no real desire for Black empowerment and therefore does not deserve our vote. If Sanders believes treating all people equally at this stage of the game is enough to overcome centuries of neglect, abuse, oppression, unfair treatment and other disadvantages visited on the Black community without addressing the fundamental reason for such racial disparities, he should really reexamine his commitment to the Black community. For these reasons, I believe Bernie Sanders is not the “savior” some in the Black community are hoping for by any stretch of the imagination. It’s time that we demand more than just a few empty promises from guys like Sanders, and demand some discernable action. Knowing how to perform a proper dap is simply not enough, in my view, to earn the Black vote.
Staff Writer; Gustavus Betts
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