He didn't misspeak, this is how he feels. You can say, well, he's done good things even despite of this. That may be true. But I'm not supporting somebody with these views.
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Bernie Sanders: White People Uncomfortable About Voting for Black Candidates Not Necessarily Racist
- Thread starter excelsiorlef
- Start date
Uhhh I would think letting your feelings over someone's skin color affect your vote for them is blatantly racist.
I dunno about you but I can't wait for more local college rag newsprints to get that syndicated column "Ask a Palestinian!"
It does matter when people ignore his ethnicity and attempt to paint him as some clueless old white man.
I'd say a Jew who actively participated in the Civil Rights Movement is a little more aware of bigotry than you're letting on.
Using the 'he's Jewish' card is really shitty, since Ashkenazi Jews are just as capable of being racist towards blacks as other white ethnic groups.
It doesn't matter is you are white or black. Racist is racist, there's no nuance to it. I'm white and racism barely impacts me, does it mean that I should just ignore when I see society acting racist? Institutional racism is ESPECIALLY bad. Ignoring it impacts literally everyone.
It's not a card, it's a fact.
People tend to ignore his ethnicity which I find disingenuous.
Participating in the Civil Rights Movement is not a merit badge. It is not a box to be checked.
You have to live this thruth. Not march for it a few times several decades ago.
Bernie's statement here was offensive and moronic. He gets no pass because a few decades ago he marched with black people before hightailing it to Vermont.
.....
Clearly his quote in this thread we're discussing proves you wrong....
BUT THE WHITE MAN MARCHED WITH KING, WHAT HAVEEEER YOOUUUUUUUU DONE ABOUT RACISMMMMM
is that where you're headed next?
But you said people call him an "old white man" like its not exactly what he is.
Jews were only the victim of the most organised group extermination attempt in modern history. What would they know about racism and bigotry?
And people wonder why minority's didn't vote for him lol
I always assume most older white people are racist and all my friends do too.
I always assume most older white people are racist and all my friends do too.
I agree he misspoke.
But my point was to the idea of him being a racist or entirely oblivious to the issue of racism and bigotry.
So because he made one poorly-worded observation he's oblivious to bigotry?
The point is that you can call these people racist, piss them off, and lose Florida again in 2020, or you can baby them and take the country back. They're undoubtedly racist but you have to understand why he can't out and out deem them as such. If we had won the Florida governorship it would have been a different story but the racists Floridians decided against them and we need some of them to flip in 2020.
Especially considering racism is literally the reason the country is so fucked up.
The most shocking thing about this is that anyone is shocked. Bernie "Aren't most of the people who sell the drugs African American?" Sanders cannot talk about race, because he fundamentally does not want to learn or listen. No reason to twist oneself into a pretzel to defend the man. He just doesn't get it, and it's clearly from a lack of trying.
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I mean, are any of us surprised by this? Especially those of us who are minorities?
Bernie is basically the physical manifestation of the white 'progressive'
Bernie is basically the physical manifestation of the white 'progressive'
A) That has nothing to do with what he said.
B) You really shouldn't bring that up when you want to talk about the situation of Racism towards African Americans which has gone on since the start of the Transatlantic Slave trade until......TODAY.
I don't understand where he's coming from. Is he apologizing to whites? I mean, it says he supported Gillium and Abrams, and that losers weren't progressive enough.
My grandpa didn't know whether he should vote for Obama or not because of his skin color. He ended up an Obama fan. Is this just about being afraid of something you're unfamiliar with or an unfinished rambling?
My grandpa didn't know whether he should vote for Obama or not because of his skin color. He ended up an Obama fan. Is this just about being afraid of something you're unfamiliar with or an unfinished rambling?
An additional nuance (part of his larger point, it would seem), that may be worth considering:
In addition to his claim that (1) certain "not necessarily racist" people were nonetheless "uncomfortable" with voting for African-American candidates, in that same sentence he specifies "for the first time in their lives", and he then makes the claim, in the next sentence, that (2) those same people (who were supposedly "not necessarily racist" but merely "uncomfortable for the first time") will be more comfortable the next time, when they have a chance to vote for an African-American candidate. So that's part of the distinction he seems to want to make, between those who are "racist" and those who are (supposedly) "not necessarily racist."
Nonetheless:
Because it's reductive and unfair given the persistent antisemitism in this country to claim he's some dotty old white man who doesn't understand bigotry.
What a dumb and dumbfounding thing to say.
He needs to apologize for this stupid comment and focus on being a senator rather than trying to be some kind of national spokesman for Democrats.
He needs to apologize for this stupid comment and focus on being a senator rather than trying to be some kind of national spokesman for Democrats.
Jews are an ethnoreligious group. They exist in a weird place where they're seen as 'white' by non-Jewish ethnic minorities and many whites, but are seen as nonwhite by an equally sizable number of whites.
Bernie in a primary against multiple viable progressive candidates would get demolished in the south and in minority votes.
I voted for him in 2016 and almost want him to run again just to put bernie or busters in place, but of course they would continue to make excuses for him losing. And it may cannibalize the votes later.
I voted for him in 2016 and almost want him to run again just to put bernie or busters in place, but of course they would continue to make excuses for him losing. And it may cannibalize the votes later.
He didn't misspeak. We're not doing this shit for Kanye, so we ain't doing it for Bernie, either.
Bernie rarely misspeaks. And this "appeal to rural whites/identity politics last" rutine fits a pattern with him.
Bernie is grown. Let this grown man stand by his words and be dragged through the coals for them.
I mean, damn, when HERMAN CAIN is on Twitter dunking on you and getting applause from both sides...you done fucked up.
Extrapolating his comment but replacing black with jewish and racist with anti-semite makes as little sense as the original comment btw.
He's an old white man who also happens to be Jewish and who has spent his entire political life fighting social injustice, including racism.
If you want to dismiss all that because he fucked up on this statement be my guest, Bro.
Swing voters in the US are white and populist. They like liberal social programs.... and racism. In figure 2, they're the upper left quadrant. You can actually see why the GOP runs on racism and social issues- on economic/social issues they literally cannot win because they do not have the votes. https://www.voterstudygroup.org/publications/2016-elections/political-divisions-in-2016-and-beyond
Nixon's vision for the US was effectively a social democratic apartheid state. The scary thing is that his vision for the US, if it had been followed through on instead of going hard-right economically under Reagan, likely would have been extraordinarily successful, electorally speaking. And you can see this in Europe, where many of the insurgent populist racist parties are following that playbook. Just like Trump did during the 2016 campaign running to the left of the GOP on economic/welfare issues. But his fatal error was treating politics like one of his business deals, and immediately backstabbing his voters by abandoning those promises and going full Paul Ryan. But that strategy only works in games you play once. A random contractor you screw over you'l never deal with again. But voters? You'll be seeing them again and again. Elections are an iterative game, and it's why Presidents generally really do try and keep their promises. And Trump's refusal to do that is why you have mass Obama->Trump backlash in the midwest and why he's going to be a big underdog to win reelection if he makes it to November of 2020.
I disagree that this wasn't a mistake on messaging but whatever.
Regardless, he fucked up.
He can walk out in public and pass as a white man to racist.
I on the other hand dont have that luxury. My blackness cant pass.
Fighting injustices doesn't make him immune to saying and believing in stupid shit.
Relax guys this is politics. He doesn't want to alienate any potential voters. Unfortunately there are a lot of white voters in this country who don't want to feel like they're losing power. Change takes time. We are still in a transition.
User Banned (2 Weeks): Defending racism.
Yup. This thread is pretty aggravating to read but that's par for the course. Unconscious racial bias is a form of racism but not all people with unconscious racial bias are racist. But fuck nuance and empathy, Bernie is the devil am I right *eyeroll*
Not voting for a candidate because he's black is not unconscious racism. That's absurd. Stop making excuses for this guy.
User banned (72 hours): Inflammatory posting, thread derailment.
You think 'white' and Jewish are the same thing?
Because six-million Holocaust victims would suggest otherwise, not to mention the antisemitism that's been rampant in this nation since forever.
Right he'll just alienate the democratic base and get burned by the south and minority voters. Again. Good politics.
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Well there was this, the "Southern primaries aren't important anyway", we don't have Gun problems in Vermont like they do in Chicago, Aren't most drug dealers black?, his entire discomfort with "Identity Politics" but sure it's just this.
I agree what he said was very poorly worded.
That said, I'm not going to toss the baby out with the bathwater.
Do as you will.
No. Stop. Feeling uncomfortable voting for someone because they're black is racism.
