In 2008, Hillary Clinton touted herself as the candidate for "working, hard-working Americans, white Americans."
One month ago, she responded to the Black Lives Matter movement by saying that "all lives matter" -- a phrase that many regard as dismissive of the concern that black people face systematic discrimination in the criminal justice system.
Nevertheless, miraculously Hillary Clinton is being touted by some Democrats as the candidate for people of color, and Bernie Sanders is facing criticism for being too oriented toward white people and not showing enough interest in issues of importance to people of other races and ethnic groups.
This analysis misses the mark, because it is not reality-based.
Could Bernie Sanders have done better when BLM protesters heckled him on stage at Netroots Nation yesterday? Yes. He did come across as pissed off and took too long in his prepared remarks before he shifted to specifically address the issues raised by the protesters.
Could Hillary Clinton have done better? Yes. She could have shown up to the event and said something, anything at all. Instead, she opted not to appear at one of the most significant gatherings of progressive Democrats -- by which decision she totally disregarded their issues and concerns, whether white or black, in scheduled discussions or unscheduled protests.
Let's look at what Bernie Sanders did say. Here are some direct quotes from his off-the-cuff response to the BLM protesters at Netroots Nation:
If you are Hispanic, the [youth] unemployment rate is 36%. If you are African American, the [youth] unemployment rate is 51%. ... It is time to invest in jobs and education, not in jails and incarceration. ...
Black people are dying in this country because of an unjust criminal justice [system]. ... Black people are dying in this country because we have a criminal justice system which is out of control. Because we have a system, as I've just mentioned, in which over 50% of young African American kids are unemployed, are out on the streets. And where we have right now, it is estimated, a black male baby born today stands a 1 in 4 change of ending up in the criminal justice system. ...
Specific proposals are, for a start, you create an economy where people have decent jobs and decent wages. And that's why we are talking about a trillion dollar program to create 13 million jobs rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. That's number 1.
Number 2, when you talk about the criminal justice system, we need fundamental reform in police departments all over this country. I was the mayor of the city of Burlington, and what we moved toward was community policing, where police officers are part of the community and not seen as an oppressive force. And we've got to do that as well.
Bernie Sanders has been fighting for justice and equality for people of color for decades. In fact, as a student at the University of Chicago, he was an organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and participated in the historic March on Washington where Martin Luther King gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963.
As Sanders explained in an interview with the Burlington Free Press, "It was a question for me of just basic justice — the fact that it was not acceptable in America at that point that you had large numbers of African Americans who couldn’t vote, who couldn’t eat in a restaurant, whose kids were going to segregated schools, who couldn’t get hotel accommodations, living in segregated housing. That was clearly a major American injustice and something that had to be dealt with."
Bernie Sanders has been consistently advocating for equal rights and against racial discrimination since he was a young man. He continues to do so today, in his campaign for president of the United States.
Hillary Clinton has been less than consistent in identifying with people of color. In fact, the last time she ran for president, she conspicuously played up her appeal to white people and argued that it is the white vote that really matters to win an election:
Clinton rejected any idea that her emphasis on white voters could be interpreted as racially divisive. "These are the people you have to win if you're a Democrat in sufficient numbers to actually win the election. Everybody knows that."
Who is the real Hillary Clinton, and who is the real Bernie Sanders? In the case of Hillary Clinton, I'm not sure we really know. Does she actually believe in prioritizing white people over people of color, or was that just a convenient, if tone-deaf political calculus the last time she was running for president? Like on many issues, it's hard to get a clear picture of what Hillary Clinton really believes. She seems to put short-term political calculations ahead of consistently standing for her principles.
In the case of Bernie Sanders, although he could probably do a better job of reaching out to non-white voters, the evidence shows that he sincerely cares about their concerns and wants to help them, both in terms of economic opportunity as well as in regard to law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
As all Americans consider the candidates for president, let's look at the evidence before assuming that voters of a particular race should support one candidate or another. I, for one, have taken a look and I believe that Bernie Sanders is a more credible voice on issues of racial equality and justice than Hillary Clinton.