Truth be told, I’ve had to laugh to keep myself from crying at all of this Kossack Sturm und Drang over the African-American vote; votes which will go a long way to determining the Democratic nominee and votes that will be prominently featured in the upcoming South Carolina and Super Tuesday contests.
All of this argument over what Sanders did back in the 1960’s, speculations that the Clinton campaign is “swiftboating” Sanders civil rights record, minute examination of various pictures, Shaun King hunting down videos, etc., etc.
For one, I think that it’s stupid shit. My own views about Sanders’ civil rights activities have not changed for months. I talked about that here.
What continues to tickle the shit out of me are the assumptions that I (as a black man) am supposed to make about what that means.
Bernie Sanders civil rights activities in the 1960’s were never a very significant criteria for me in predicting whether and how President Sanders might approach the problems that African Americans face.
The relationship of Sanders with his African American constituents (and they have been his constituents for over 25 years) is hundreds of times more significant than whether he marched with King or not.
Because Sanders’ constituents “know him” and his work far better than I do; they are better judges than you or I.
And the answer from Sanders’ African American constituents to the question of Sanders’ concern for blacks: Meh.
Sanders isn't an innocent victim of his state's demographics, suggests Brattleboro-based Reed. "He's from Brooklyn and grew up with black and brown folks," he notes. Sanders' record of largely avoiding the topic of race "is simply a choice on his part that invalidates the presence of black and brown people," contends the African American activist. "Sen. Sanders suffers from a disease called color blindness."
Colston adds, "If his career had emanated from Brooklyn, he'd have a completely different perspective" on race.
Clarence Davis, a black Shelburne resident* who worked for Sanders in the House, adds that he would like to see "more discussion of race" in which his former boss would participate. It's wrong to regard the country as having achieved a post-racial consciousness, Davis suggests. "We don't live in a color-blind society and never have," he says.
The national campaign will likely push Sanders to be more forthcoming on race. Up until now, however, it has been "as if he's running again for office in Vermont rather than for national office," says Rafael Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican from the Bronx who works as a student services administrator at the University of Vermont. "He's not explicit about racism."
Sanders had a poor record as mayor in appointing minority-group members — as well as women — to high-level positions, says Hines, who has lived in Burlington since 1963. The core of his progressive entourage has been entirely white and almost exclusively male, Hines adds.
"I have a great amount of respect for Bernie," she says, "except I wouldn't vote for him." Hines is supporting Clinton, whom she regards as preferable on issues of concern to women and African Americans.
In the SevenDaysVT (a publication that I’ve come to love!) there’s at least two stories that noted that Sanders had no people of color that worked for him.
I do know that since African immigration to Vermont has become a bit of an issue, Sanders has stepped up to the plate a bit: I don’t feel like hunting down those links right now but that was a point in his favor.
And the conversation continues:
MONTPELIER, Vermont — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders may be about to hit a "black firewall" in South Carolina, as one Vermont activist on race issues put it Friday, but support for him appears to run deep in Vermont's tiny black community.
While progressive politics and home-state loyalty appeared to boost support for the state's U.S. senator at a Black Lives Matter event at the Statehouse on Friday, some observers said he could have done more during his time in the U.S. House and Senate to cement relations with residents of color and thereby keep more current on race relations in America.
Dozens of activists gathered Friday to call for a racial justice agenda in Vermont, including more hiring of black teachers and school administrators and having more accountability for state agency hiring practices.
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Mark Hughes, leader of the group Justice For All-Vermont, said he understood why many blacks in South Carolina, site of the next Democratic primary, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus were taking an approach to Sanders that might be summed up with the phrase, "Hello, who are you?"
Because Vermont is 93.5 percent non-Hispanic white, the second-whitest state after Maine, and because Sanders has not done a lot to reach out to people of color during his time in the U.S. House and Senate, "I think there's a lot of folks from his home state where they might be having the same discussion," he said.
"We don't have a lot of interaction with our congressional delegation," Hughes said.
FTR, I think that Hillary Clinton is “meh” on this topic as well.