first, if not the first, federal officials to speak out after Ferguson.

Again, though I agree he needs to speak out more on issues specific to people of color, other than economic issues.

It. But I have been on so many posts the last two days, I haven't a clue where.

I will say, and I do find it unfortunate, Sen . Sanders does bring EVERYTHING back to economic issues. Sometimes, he shouldn't.

As I said before, I don't believe that the "economic" in the equality always relates to anything more than the fact that, social justice can't be achieved if we can't get laws passed because of corpocracy and the oligarchs. They pay to keep the laws unequal. Know what I mean?

Yes, it has to be addressed without bringing anything else in to the conversation

and no one get me wrong. I AM NOT saying he is a racist for his continuing omission of a very important, CURRENT issue. I feel he has more integrity and principle than the ALL the other candidates. I am just saying he must address the issue openly, without equivocation. The corptocracy and growing oligarchy must be dealt with. One of the tools that class uses is racial hate in the form of media reports that are misleading and slickly packaged racism that keeps us divided with fear, usually from whites to POC, although fear of the white LEO is growing, exponentially, the other way and that is purposefully done by the PTB also. Justifiable fear at that. The oligarchs take advantage of the low information, fox snooze crowd, which is large and keeps them in fear of 'the other'. Until that form of racism and hate, used by the oligarchy is continually exposed and censored by large segments of white society, no amount of economic equality will bring racial equality to POC.

I know many of the candidates are reticent to broach the race subject for fear of alienating a voting bloc of both democrats and the usual GOP suspects that might be swayed by Sen. Sanders economic policies/positions. My questions is, if not now, when? Been waiting 150 years and counting.

And I never thought you meant he was a racist. I know here who is genuine in their words and who aren't. You always are

racial issues while others were busy doing other things. I'm not at all sure what you are looking for. Btw, what were Hillary and Bill Clinton doing during the fight for Civil Rights, they are of the same generation as Bernie.

I have been meaning to look to see if they, like him, were involved in that historical movement.

What he understands is this. Those who every election season, tell us how much they care about women, minorities and gays rarely, once elected, match their actions to their words. And after all these years, he sees that nothing has been done to support any of these groups.

THIS is what he has stated about African American youth, that the employment rate among them is HIGHER than whites.

He believes this is WRONG.

I don't know where people have been regarding this issue and Bernie but he has done more throughout his life to try to end racism and inequality than any other candidate I remember in my lifetime.

I am thrilled that he is bringing MLK's message, not long after delivering that message he was murdered, back to the forefront regarding the causes of inequality among AAs and it's about time.

Maybe he is too evolved for this country, in that he has such clear vision of the issues facing people in this country.

What I would like to know is, why is the AA community is so impoverished, after all the rhetoric we have heard during every election?

What has been done by any of those we elected who TALKED about racism but then forgot, sent out the National Guard, yes DEMS, treating peaceful AA protesters like criminals?

What actions have been taken by the current administration to END the brutality, the injustices against African Americans at the hands of the police, the murders the incarceration rate among AAs? Bernie has not only spoken about it but has a solution, not that anyone in DC has ever been interested.

I don't want to hear TALK, I want to see solutions and action. And that's what I see in ONLY ONE candidate, and that is Bernie Sanders.

If you're happy with talk, he can do what all the others do, TALK. But this notion that that the lack of economic opportunity and advancement, education and all that is available to White America isn't IMPORTANT or RELATIVE to the RACISM, simply stuns me.

I haven't seen anywhere but here frankly and began as a talking point by certain persons with an agenda and has zero basis in fact. As the facts and long history show.

I know we love to hear TALK in this country.

I guess I'm more of a 'show me' person.

As I have said, I'll say again, Sen. Sanders record and voting history in the social justice and equality areas is impeccable. His character and integrity is unassailable.

But I say without equivocation, a POC and a white person who apply for the same good paying job, that Bernie as POTUS brought about, WILL NOT stop racism, only enforced law and policies created by a Sander's administration and passed by a friendly Congress will go toward ending open racism that causes the person of color to be denied that job in a sanders economy of equality. The bullets, in the bodies of the POC, men, women and children, of the last three years, were not shot from guns because of a lack of jobs, I saw only hate. A spine broken in eight places and the subsequent death was not prevented by equal opportunity in gaining employment. It was hate disguised with lies of fear at the 'threat' or lately, of being "distraught". The abuse and murder of the many women and girls of color in the last three years was not because of jobs being created or school systems being equally funded, it was/is caused by hate. Fact.

The person who hates black skin, which is the majority of racists who hate, is the problem. That person who hates because of different skin color and the myths and stereotypes generated by a racist cultures tools, media mainly, is the one that will not be swayed from their hate and ignorance no matter their economic status or that of whom they hate and they are the problem, not lack of jobs. That's just fact.

It is important to note and state as fact that the unavailability of economic opportunity and advancement, education and all that is an economic given for white americans, IS denied POC as a matter of cultural norm, not because of a fight for a dearth of jobs. So my question to you is, what is behind this denial of those points you use as a justification of not directly and openly calling for an end to the racism that creates this economic disparity between the races? Just a lack of money and jealousy of a white person? What is behind economic disparity, in america, is systemic and institutionalized racist behavior based strictly on white privilege. If a racist denies a POC that job that Bernie created for us, as POTUS, what then? Bernie talked of creating millions of jobs fixing our decaying infrastructure, honorable and bold. Yet if two equally qualified individuals go for the same job with maybe the POC having an edge in experience and the cultural norm kicks in, who's going to get that job? Which came first, the job or the cultural norm? Nothing relative there. Important that people understand that curing racism is going to be the battle, not jobs, which are needed, not economic opportunity or advancement of POC into an economic system that has always been skewed in favor of white society. Unskewing that privilege is part of the cure. People wanting to change their attitudes is another. Most won't do it on their own, just laws, law and more laws will prevent open racism. Lot of good laws still in place now, but usually very hard to enforce with the lies surrounding the use of racist behavior to kill, maim, abuse and deny a POC their civil rights.

The current administration and it's work on brutality and racial injustice is NOT relative to the current claim and argument that economics is the answer to the racist culture POC deal with everyday. Jobs, while extremely important, mean nothing if POC are denied them by a racist in charge of those hiring for those jobs. American history is clear, in economic boom times and not, racial hate has stayed the same hateful marker of an unequal american society for generations. That's the nature of american racist hate.

the gross inequality suffered by the AA community to the point where it is okay for our so-called Civilian police to murder them in the streets without consequences, most of the victims being poor btw, with no access to the same system economically privileged people have, what has it all done to change any of this?

It is in fact getting worse, AA youth, as Bernie has pointed out numerous times, have the highest unemployment rate of ANY group. Leading them to a sense of despair about their futures, forcing them to live in substandard areas, easy targets for racist cops.

But you think that lifting them out of this quagmire of poverty would do nothing to to improve their lives and circumstances?

So what would you do?

Greaat, let's not provide AAs with the same opportunities we provide for Whites. Let's ignore the huge impact of poverty on all this. Now what, what is your solution?

I said lifting AA youth out of poverty would do nothing to improve their lives. I did not say that. I am saying you can lift them out of poverty as high as a Serena Williams or Oprah Winfrey or even Barack Obama and that they would still be subject to the rampant racism and hate by many in white society, polite or otherwise. Racism along with income inequality must be addressed and eradicated is what I'm saying. You really have not addressed anything I pointed out in my response and that's okay with me. I know where I stand and shall remain there. Have a good one.

is the one you might be referring to.

Good old Brother Ivan!

Just curious.

I missed that one myself, but the dailykos link from BrotherIvan looks like a respectable start. My feeling is that this behavior of racial inequality must be continually addressed. The reason racism has not disappeared is that after the election is over, it's usually back to "business as usual". The reference to MLK being in Memphis fighting for economic equality for the sanitation workers, in the KOS piece, is true but somewhat flawed because I know that even when the sanitation workers got some crumbs thrown to them, after the assassination of MLK, racism against them and POC in general continued. I was around and sentient, then. I know what I have seen and experienced of what has passed then and passes now as racial relations in this culture. Not a hell of a lot of difference, that I have experienced.

His 35 min kickoff speech was sliced and diced, but Hillary has said she will add detail to hers so I guess we will se. Bernie wants to talk substantively about issues which takes time to do. He talks about it in depth in the video at the link (see the post for the time code where he starts talking about it). But it is peppered throughout his whole speech, followed by policy proposals, not just platitudes.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026832498

Last edited Mon Jun 15, 2015, 05:11 PM - Edit history (1)

to the whole speech, Q&A included, my first in depth look at this candidate. Impressive, yet with very little pepper related to social justice and the rampant racism in this nation. 99.999% is about economic issues, health care, jobs, SSI,and speaking at a college, student debt, the need for an educated workforce, minimum wage, paid sick time, maternity leave, climate change, which are all very important points to cover. But let's get real here, a majority of democrats and republicans could give a damn less about the racism and discrimination faced by POC and all candidates know this. I just have to point to the cop apologists and racists apologists that pop up here calling themselves progressives while justifying murder and abuse every time a recent(last three years) racial incident transpires on the streets of this country, and with Baltimore, they were just out the box.

Bernie's reference(s) to social justice are crafted so as to not offend or turn off an audience like the Des Moines college crowd with overt references to POC or racism. Again, a majority in the democratic and republican crowds DON'T care about POC or social justice as a policy or as a real important issue. The recent SCOTUS ruling on civil rights affirmed that. They don't want to hear it. I heard inner city mentioned, as two words only, equality being "birthright of all americans", militarization of police, police and citizen public cooperation and police accountability, AA youth joblessness being at 51%, much more than all other races combined, interspersed throughout his speech in a manner that it was more like a passing reference to his more important agenda of economic healing of this corporate and bank owned system which is guided by the billionaires like the koch brothers and waltons, his reference, not mine. He forgot to mention the engine, media, that is driving the koch brothers agenda to own america and all americans.

I have watched these speeches since the 60's and it was stock political stumping with the Bernie economic twist... He did get applause after speaking of sexism and progress made in social equality for women and gays and when he mentioned jobs instead of mass incarceration with no mention of the race of the majority of those incarcerated. But all socially aware citizens are supposed to know what he was referencing, I assume. He spoke of 40 years of social progress, using our black POTUS as an example of that progress in social areas but did not speak of how seriously eroded that progress has become in these last 40 years by the newly and openly professed racism of this culture against POC. He will appeal to many because of his careful crafted of words to accentuate the economic positive and nuance the social and racial negative. Understood, it's a political necessity in america. His call for a mass social movement is his attempt, I feel, to galvanize students and the concerned to fight against a racist right wing political and media driven juggernaut that will be hell to turn back if we don't start soon. I give him kudos if that is his intent with calling for this mass social movement against the right wing.

The Q&A was typical of a college crowd, climate change, GMO's, PAC's, product labeling. Understood why he carefully crafted his speech looking at the makeup of his audience. But it's still early yet so I can wait until he get's in front of a more diverse audience or a majority black audience where I can hear from him or any of our candidates, that we have to end racism and social inequality now. Not linked to any other policy matter. Then, in my book, they will be dealing with reality faced everyday by POC.

I like Bernie and feel he doesn't have a racist bone in his body and I know that Bernie does not and cannot have all the answers on how to defeat the stupidity, hate, anger and total ignorance that drives white racism. I just wish someone would openly say something like this with the promise that we must at least try. It is time and time is getting short.

I've got three pages of notes and that was a cursory summation. I will have to study in depth that nuance of which I spoke to try to understand if it resonates with those who don't have to face racism and economic struggle.

and answer better. I am working right now and I don't want to write just a one liner to your very thoughtful response. This is the kind of discussions I wish we could have on DU on a regular basis.

And I want to say that you have written more clearly and eloquently than anyone on DU about race right now. I'm not blowing smoke, but even my reticence to saying that Bernie needs to tackle the issue head on has been changed by your arguments. So I want to just say that.

I myself, am unclear about what the plan is to fight pervasive racism infecting our country. We need clear goals and battles that can be won. I think one of the most successful campaigns for equality in recent history has been the fight for marriage equality because by winning that battle, the LGBT community has been able to get the overarching message of civil rights to become mainstream. It has turned public opinion in an astonishingly short amount of time.

PoC need to come together and make a focused battle plan. If we can come together and decide on what will be the most important fight that will have exponential returns, then we can make progress. Right now, it seems like there is no way to make any at all as the world burns.

There is the problem of institutional racism such as the police that can be changed by government and politicians. I expect very much for a leader to have a clear plan of how to fix the police and our justice system to eradicate racism. I expect them to have a plan for economic racism in the form of jobs in black neighborhoods, supporting black businesses, and providing good housing and infrastructure. I don't believe it is an accident that the most brutal police murders have come in poor, depressed neighborhoods. I expect the government to use every tool it has to fight the cancer that is racism in our country.

But what government can't do is fix cultural racism. And to be honest, I am a not sure how to do it either. It is generational, passed down through families. And their racist attitudes are most dangerous when then have power, usually economic, but also at the barrel of a gun. Dog whistles on Fox News stoking the fire and no one does anything about it. So how do we even start to fix this problem?

It is discussions like these and figuring out how to walk forward together that are much more important that a presidential election. We have seen that civil rights came only when the people marched and demanded it from their leaders. It is definitely time to fight again.

Big LOUD giant clap on your posts

in my mind as to his having "walked the walk".