I recently wrote a diary titled 'The Neverending Tone-Deafness of Bernie Sanders’. After his performance at the debate last night I started wondering if the tone deafness he seems afflicted by will ever end. Once I heard his comments on white people not knowing what it is like to be poor or live in the 'ghetto', I had to go back and rewatch the entire debate because I had completely missed just how terribly he had answered that question. I will not even try to pretend that Clinton's answer was perfect, but my oh my, his gaffes on race have been absolutely bizarre. And his clarification is almost worse than the initial gaffe.
Does the tone deafness never end? It’s almost like he thinks all black folks live like people on the show ‘Good Times’.
From msnbc.com
While discussing his own racial “blind spots” during Sunday night’s Democratic presidential debate in Flint, Michigan, Sen. Bernie Sanders offered that white people “don’t know what it’s like to be living in a ghetto. You don’t know what it’s like to be poor.” His comment drew swift condemnation on social media, since it appeared that the Vermont lawmaker was implying that only black people live in impoverished communities, reinforcing inaccurate and painful stereotypes that have dogged African-Americans for years.
Sanders’ “ghetto” gaffe underlined a persistent problem that may have crippled his bid for the 2016 nomination. He has struggled to connect with black voters, and his choice of words has often undercut a populist economic message that might have resonated with people of color.
Even if Sanders had the best of intentions, it was not his best moment, as evidenced by one of his most prominent African-American surrogates — former NAACP chairman Ben Jealous — who told NBC News: “Sen. Sanders is from Burlington, he grew up in old Brooklyn, he knows white folks live in ghettos.”
On Monday, Sanders attempted to clarify his debate statement, telling a gaggle of reporters in Detroit: “What I meant to say, is when you talk about ghettos, traditionally what you’re talking about is African-American communities.”
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/bernie-sanders-ghetto-gaffe-highlights-campaigns-struggle-race
Link to original diary: www.dailykos.com/...