No other candidate in this race has been as strong of an advocate for racial justice as Bernie has
There has been a lot of misinformation on this site lately suggesting that Bernie Sanders has been ignoring issues of race. I intend to prove in this post beyond any reasonable doubt that not only has Bernie Sanders talked about racial issues, but he has been a true champion for civil rights. Every example I am providing below of Bernie Sanders speaking out on racial issues is from the past year, I could go back to the 60's when Bernie was involved with the SNCC and marching with Martin Luther King but I don't need to go back that far. In recent months Bernie has spoken out far more than any other candidate on these issues, and here is the proof:
In the wake of continuing unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, Sen. Bernie Sanders said on Wednesday that he will introduce legislation to address the national crisis of black youth unemployment. In a letter to Senate colleagues, Sanders called for a thorough federal investigation of the Aug. 9 death of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, who was shot by a police officer in the St. Louis suburb. “We also must recognize, however, that there is an economic crisis facing our nation’s youth, particularly young African-Americans,” Sanders said. In the St. Louis metro area, almost half of young African-American men are unemployed, Sanders said. Nationwide, the youth unemployment rate today is more than 20 percent and African-American youth unemployment is nearly 35 percent.
“If we are going to address the issue of crime in low-income areas and in African-American communities, it might be a good idea that instead of putting military style equipment into police departments in those areas, we start investing in jobs for the young people there who desperately need them.”
The legislation would provide $5.5 billion in immediate funding to states and localities to employ 1 million young Americans between the ages of 16 and 24.
Under the bill, the U.S. Department of Labor would provide $4 billion to states and local governments to provide summer and year-round employment opportunities for economically disadvantaged youth. The measure also would award $1.5 billion in competitive grants to provide work-based training to low- and moderate-income youth and disadvantaged young adults.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/21/1323382/-Bernie-Sanders-Responds-To-Ferguson
For those interested in reading Bernie's letter calling for a jobs program to benefit African American youth just follow the link below.
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/dear-colleague-youth-jobs?inline=file
Just earlier this month Sanders spoke out on Baltimore as well...
And in April he spoke extensively about Civil Rights...
And in March he participated on the March on Selma...
Can anyone honestly look at these links and continue to claim that Bernie Sanders has been ignoring people of color?
= new reply since forum marked as read
But rest assured - she will not appoint a person to the SCOTUS that would rule in favor of not allowing black women (in particular due to disparities in our criminal justice system) to vote.
I live in Hunterdon County NJ - just 10/15 minutes from the Bucks County PA border. I was getting rural Eastern PA, elderly, shut ins, people without cars to the polls in 2008. In 2012 - due to a discriminatory voter ID law, PA was a nail biter - specifically in Philly. If that Governor had been successful - the Pennsyltuckys would have determined those EC votes.
This isn't three dimensional chess or political gamesmanship, this is real. The Republicans have taken over local and state governments. They have a strangle hold in the House until 2020. The Rs have a lot of seats in play in 2016 in the Senate. I'm not sure we can be successful - but we can try.
If we aren't successful - as of 8 am today - the only thing standing between us these awful people - just awful and rotten to the core is going to be a woman named Clinton, or a man named Sanders, or a man named O'Malley. Not a single one will allow gerrymandering that disenfranchises us all (liberals/progressives) any more than we have already been.
When I left Western NY in 2006 for the warmth of more prosperous suns - there were about 700 K reasonable, sane people in the greater Rochester area. There were a half million people in all of Wyoming. I want to make sure the reasonable people don't have their districts dissolved into Genessee and Wayne counties. And rest assured those assholes in the House would love nothing more than to take the power of the voters in Rochester away.
The SCOTUS appointments that will happen in the next Administration are the long game for a lot of people. Our baby boomers are going to be a huge population. We can't give up seats to Gerry Mandering that will be filled with cruel people who have zero respect for how they changed the world for women, minorities, the GLBT community, etc etc.
The biggest users of my community kitchens ovens this winter were elderly men in my community who never quite learned how to *cook* 
- but could use our gas ovens for a few hours to keep their utility bills down - and learn in the process. This is the 6th wealthiest county in America - and our poor aren't poor enough for Republicans. Our elderly aren't cold enough, and our children aren't hungry enough.
So in my subject line I said I'm ready for O'Malley. But I'm also ready for Hillary or Sanders - or even Webb.
They won't throw us away and appoint another ass wipe like Scalia or Alito who are just there to serve the Kochs.
on all of this. Went above and beyond. 
Now, will this change this poster's propensity for running all over DU, screaming about his block in the AA forum because he's a poor, picked on "Sanders supporter" and not because of his really obvious trolling of the AA forum -- which as you note, had been going on for MONTHS -- and the issues he apparently has with educated people of all colors and hues? I seriously doubt it.
that the fact that Bernie hasn't addressed race directly in his campaign, and doesn't seem to be making it a priority, is no big deal. No, you can't tell what race people are on the internet, but you can read what the AA group has to say, and it's pretty different from what gets said in GD. I mean, even in this thread we have someone complaining about getting banned from AA for defending Bernie there in ways that apparently some people didn't appreciate.
Yes, he has been a long-time civil rights advocate, but an extremely valid question is: will he, if elected, make issues of importance to the black community a priority? Hopefully he will have a better answer than what his DU supporters have been saying for the last few days, which is "economic inequality is inseparable from racial issues, and besides, he led sit-ins in the 60s" (this is a long and somewhat condescending way of saying "no" .
This isn't Bernie's fault, but there's definitely a potential difficulty for him here, also given how popular and trusted Clinton is in the black community. You can't have missed the meme that social issues are just some kind of distraction that the oligarchs use to divide the working class. If that idea becomes associated with his campaign, IMO it will basically end any chance he had of getting the nomination.
response to another. I've said my piece & see you clearly have nothing more to offer so I'll be done with you now.
whine about getting blocked from the AA forum. You went into a protected group spouted out of your mouth repeatedly, were asked respectfully to knock it off & when you didn't you were blocked. Accept it & get over it.
Your opinion of CW is duly noted & rejected by this minority member but please continue explaining to me how I'm supposed to think. 
Yet when you are told, over and over again that he has been one of the most consistent members of Congress going way, way back to his days as a college student, when he was actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement, and throughout his career as a politician stood up for minorities, not just African Americans, Gays, Latinos etc, you ignore those facts and bounce right back to 'but he didn't mention it in a speech'.
Sorry, but I can only judge people here by what they write.
I have confidence that Bernie will be working with minority leaders, LISTENING to them, as that is what he does best, and has listened to them, and will do more for those who are oppressed in this country than any other candidate in this race.
He voted AGAINST Doma, when only a few had the guts to stand up for Gay Rights, championed Gay Marriage, two decades ago, before almost anyone currently serving in our government had even begun to 'evolve' on the issue.
And btw, here's another one for you. He didn't mention GAY RIGHTS in his speech either.
a very clear difference between social & economic justice? I know it's getting quite tiresome to me but I'll be damned if I give up this fight until people understand what we go through on the daily.
Just wanted to let you know, you're not alone. 
