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TomCADem

(17,378 posts)
Sun Jan 20, 2019, 11:57 PM Jan 2019

NYMag - Bernie Sanders and the Lies We Tell White Voters

Two years into the Trump presidency and Bernie still continues to deny that Trump voters are often motivated by hate stoked by Trump's scapegoating of immigrants and trade. Bernie needs to take some lessons from AOC and be unafraid to call out Trump for racism and be unafraid to call out how the racism of Trump's supporters is used to oppress his own supporters. The father of Medicare, Lyndon Johnson, a white southerner, knew this:



If we continue to lie to white voters and assure them that there distrust of immigrants, trade, minorities, educated women, etc., is justified, then we are facilitating their oppression.

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/bernie-sanders-and-the-lies-we-tell-white-voters.html

In the 2016 Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton mopped the floor with Bernie Sanders among black voters. That a commanding 50-point margin separated the two with this crucial cohort prompted soul-searching for the Vermont senator, whose 2020 plans rest on building a more multiracial coalition. Sanders has responded with earnest outreach. He has communicated frequently with progressive black mayors across the South and endorsed popular black statewide candidates, like Andrew Gillum and Stacey Abrams. The Associated Press reports the senator “huddles more routinely with black lawmakers to discuss shared priorities.” And Sanders continues to downplay his 2016 black support gap, pointing out that he won voters under 30 across racial lines.

So it seemed a setback on Thursday when the Daily Beast published an article quoting Sanders on the role of racism in Gillum’s apparent defeat. “I think you know there are a lot of white folks out there who are not necessarily racist who felt uncomfortable for the first time in their lives about whether or not they wanted to vote for an African-American,” the senator said of the Florida governor’s race. A small outcry ensued, accusing Sanders of evading the reality that opposing a black candidate out of discomfort with black leadership is, by definition, racist. Sanders tried to clarify his comments later that day. “There’s no question that in Georgia and in Florida, racism has reared its ugly head,” he told NPR. “And you have candidates who ran against Gillum and ran against Stacey Abrams who were racist and were doing everything they could to try to play whites against blacks.”

In neither statement did Sanders indict voters for backing racist candidates. To the Daily Beast, he recast their racism as mere discomfort, and to NPR, blamed a candidate-led con job and not the electorate itself. That he did this may have been a rhetorical lapse, or strategic to his political aspirations — calling racist white people “racist” is a good way to ensure they do not vote for you. But either way it is not the truth, and echoes a broader tendency in American politics to entice such voters by lying to them about how racist they actually are.

Sanders is far from alone in failing to upbraid bigots, but he is singular among white progressives being floated as 2020 hopefuls. He is the most popular political figure in America, according to multiple polls. He has almost single-handedly driven the Democratic Party’s leftward shift on policy, giving him significant sway over whatever platform future candidates put forth. Such influence has likely engendered caution. Sanders saw what happened to Hillary Clinton when she told the truth. In September 2016, the then-Democratic presidential nominee made a speech decrying “half of [Donald] Trump’s supporters” as “deplorables” — “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic.” She was not being derogatory. Clinton’s claims were borne out by several polls attesting to the bigotry infecting Trump’s coalition. But looking back, even she sees her honesty as a gaffe. “I’m sorry I gave [Trump] a political gift of any kind, but I don’t think that was determinative,” Clinton said last year. The term “deplorable” has since assumed totemic power among the president’s base, adorning T-shirts worn proudly by those Clinton described as such.
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NYMag - Bernie Sanders and the Lies We Tell White Voters (Original Post) TomCADem Jan 2019 OP
Why have you put up this old article? nt DURHAM D Jan 2019 #1
Because Senator Sanders' statement is recent and will continue to be relevant. emulatorloo Jan 2019 #3
Because It's Still Relevant? Me. Jan 2019 #4
Yes emulatorloo Jan 2019 #5
Absolutely! Cha Jan 2019 #15
November 2018 Is An Old Article? TomCADem Jan 2019 #7
omg, he really said that shit yo ... damn, Sanders is ... not with it uponit7771 Jan 2019 #22
I'm glad that quote from BS that is bolded Cha Jan 2019 #2
"In neither statement did Sanders indict voters for backing racist candidates." babylonsister Jan 2019 #6
I think BS' quote is Not very smart. Cha Jan 2019 #14
It's disqualifying. I cannot support someone who says things like that. NurseJackie Jan 2019 #23
It's almost surreal that there are Cha Jan 2019 #30
Can you imagine the uproar from progressives if an actual Democrat said something that offensive? NurseJackie Jan 2019 #31
Yes, I can.. they would be rightfully Cha Jan 2019 #33
It's not very smart, and it's terrible. NastyRiffraff Jan 2019 #32
Exactly Riff.. and the article from Cha Jan 2019 #34
Besides the out and out Archie Bunker bigots andym Jan 2019 #8
that makes sense, maybe they are ignorant of what rascism really is. nt elmac Jan 2019 #10
trollmuch mentalslavery Jan 2019 #9
Can't handle BS' being called out on his quote? Cha Jan 2019 #13
Meh jalan48 Jan 2019 #11
Another Bernie bashing thread....Hurray! chwaliszewski Jan 2019 #12
BS has his own shovel he digs with. Showing the hole he digs isn't bashing. nt fleabiscuit Jan 2019 #16
Well said. emulatorloo Jan 2019 #20
I had no idea whatsoever that Bernie was disliked here at DU... chwaliszewski Jan 2019 #26
And with good reason. Things like this are inexcusable. NurseJackie Jan 2019 #28
I chuckle at his supporters' hand-wringing and fretting... just because he's being quoted. NurseJackie Jan 2019 #27
Nobody is bashing Bernie. NurseJackie Jan 2019 #24
A constant reminder that the individual determines their own truth. fleabiscuit Jan 2019 #35
Yep. ucrdem Jan 2019 #17
NO MORE CODDLING populistdriven Jan 2019 #18
Kennedy also made a contribution to getting Medicare passed ucrdem Jan 2019 #19
This is an important reminder, especially on a day R B Garr Jan 2019 #21
True! Yes. Especially today. NurseJackie Jan 2019 #25
"failing to upbraid bigots". Especially true for today! R B Garr Jan 2019 #29
DU rec...nt SidDithers Jan 2019 #36

emulatorloo

(43,982 posts)
3. Because Senator Sanders' statement is recent and will continue to be relevant.
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 12:14 AM
Jan 2019

“I think you know there are a lot of white folks out there who are not necessarily racist who felt uncomfortable for the first time in their lives about whether or not they wanted to vote for an African-American”

Cha

(295,912 posts)
2. I'm glad that quote from BS that is bolded
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 12:09 AM
Jan 2019

is not going down the rabbit hole.

".. Not necessarily racist.." right. wtel..

babylonsister

(170,963 posts)
6. "In neither statement did Sanders indict voters for backing racist candidates."
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 01:12 AM
Jan 2019

Yea, real mature, or really realistic. I think talking to people vs. telling them how they're wrong is not a bad idea.

Cha

(295,912 posts)
14. I think BS' quote is Not very smart.
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 02:53 AM
Jan 2019
“I think you know there are a lot of white folks out there who are not necessarily racist who felt uncomfortable for the first time in their lives about whether or not they wanted to vote for an African-American,” the senator said of the Florida governor’s race

NurseJackie

(42,862 posts)
31. Can you imagine the uproar from progressives if an actual Democrat said something that offensive?
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 06:16 PM
Jan 2019

I'm not in the habit of giving people a free-pass for saying racially offensive things like that, and I don't intend to start now.

NastyRiffraff

(12,448 posts)
32. It's not very smart, and it's terrible.
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 06:25 PM
Jan 2019

He could have easily said that racism was a factor in Gillum's loss. He could have said white people have a history of racism and therefore had a hard time voting for an African American. Either way, he could have called out racism as a reality and as one reason Gillum lost.

But he didn't, because that's not what he meant. Sanders has given many interviews and has spoken publicly many many times. He says what he means.

Personally, I take him at his word.

Cha

(295,912 posts)
34. Exactly Riff.. and the article from
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 06:38 PM
Jan 2019

NYmag is right..

If we continue to lie to white voters and assure them that there distrust of immigrants, trade, minorities, educated women, etc., is justified, then we are facilitating their oppression.

andym

(5,441 posts)
8. Besides the out and out Archie Bunker bigots
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 01:43 AM
Jan 2019

there are a group of Americans who are prejudiced and therefore racists without being consciously aware of it. Perhaps Senator Sanders is referring to them in his in-artful way.

From Psychology Today in 2012:
"Dr. David Williams, professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, cited studies documenting that when Latinos and African Americans were treated by physicians for a broken bone in their leg, they received pain medication significantly less often than white patients with the same injury."

" minorities are less likely to be given appropriate cardiac medications or to undergo bypass surgery, and are less likely to receive kidney dialysis or transplants. By contrast, they are more likely to receive certain less-desirable procedures, such as lower limb amputations for diabetes and other conditions.'

"The data beg an obvious question, and Williams did not disappoint. “How on earth do we make sense of this?” he asked. “How is it possible for the best trained medical workforce in the world to produce… care that appears to be so discriminatory?"

"The answer, Williams argued, is unconscious discrimination. According to Williams, the research shows that when people hold a negative stereotype about a group and meet someone from that group, they often treat that person differently and honestly don't even realize it. Williams noted that most Americans would object to being labeled as “racist” or even as “discriminating”, but he added, “Welcome to the human race. It is a normal process about how all of us process information. The problem for our society is that the level of negative stereotypes is very high.”...
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-the-lines/201204/studies-unconscious-bias-racism-not-always-racists

Cha

(295,912 posts)
13. Can't handle BS' being called out on his quote?
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 02:52 AM
Jan 2019
“I think you know there are a lot of white folks out there who are not necessarily racist who felt uncomfortable for the first time in their lives about whether or not they wanted to vote for an African-American,” the senator said of the Florida governor’s race

NurseJackie

(42,862 posts)
27. I chuckle at his supporters' hand-wringing and fretting... just because he's being quoted.
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 10:54 AM
Jan 2019

In my opinion, that was something that completely DISQUALIFIES him from seeking higher office. He cannot represent our nation with totally wrong-headed thinking like that. I mean, saying things like that might be appropriate among his Vermont constituents. But outside the homogeneous demographics of his own "home state" it sounds as unpleasant as fingernails scraping on a chalkboard. I think we can do better and I will not support anyone who thinks that way. It's just wrong.

All I'm saying is that the Democratic party has an abundance of very bright and talented and forward-thinking DEMOCRATS to choose from. As a party we're looking up and forward and to the future. It serves no good purpose to look back and down and to the PAST. Bernie is in the past.

ucrdem

(15,512 posts)
19. Kennedy also made a contribution to getting Medicare passed
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 05:36 AM
Jan 2019

As with civil rights, so with health care, and while LBJ richly deserves credit for passing both pieces of legislation, they were originally sent to Congress by the Kennedy administration. Civil rights didn't get voted on before Kennedy died, but Medicare did, and was defeated in 1962. So props to LBJ for getting it done and props to Kennedy for proposing it:

R B Garr

(16,920 posts)
29. "failing to upbraid bigots". Especially true for today!
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 11:12 AM
Jan 2019

Awkward!

He also failed to upbraid oligarchs by refusing to vote on Russian sanctions. Why let oligarchs off the hook? Weird.

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