A few days ago,
several black activists received this email, with an apology, from a senior staffer with Bernie's campaign. You should read it. It's a great email. Here's the intro with the apology.
Hello all!
My name is Marcus Ferrell, I am a senior staffer for Senator Bernie Sanders presidential bid in 2016.
I am reaching out to you on behalf of our campaign because you are the folks doing the work for Black Lives Matter. I apologize it took our campaign so long to officially reach out. We are hoping to establish a REAL space for REAL dialog between the folks on this email and our campaign. If you guys know of anyone that should be on this email chain and is not, please feel free to forward them this message and my contact information.
When asked about it on Meet the Press by Chuck Todd on Sunday morning, Bernie flat out denied apologizing, said it was done without his knowledge, and that he didn't think an apology was remotely necessary.
“Well, that was sent out by a staffer, not by me,” Sanders said. “Look, we are reaching out to all kinds of groups. Absolutely I met with folks at Black Lives Matter.”
“I understand that you said a staffer put it out, but you felt an apology was necessary?” Todd asked.
“No, I don’t. I think we’re going to be working with all groups. This was sent out without my knowledge,” Sanders said.
Last week I praised Bernie's plan addressing systemic racism and police brutality. Now, though, I'm starting to wonder if he had anything to do with it. It seems like he has hired some black staffers who are doing a great job saying all of the right things, but that he may not actually be connected, personally, to what they are thinking and saying.
When Bernie so flippantly dismissed this apology, he not only disrespected his senior staffer, but he showed that he's not really in tune with how his staffers think and feel about how things are going for him. For me, I was just starting to open up to the idea that Bernie sincerely cared about police brutality and racial injustice, but this current mess sets me back.