Black Leaders Condemn Attacks by Sanders Supporters Amid Fallout From WFP's Warren Endorsement

[George II]

This is disqualifying!

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

https://splinternews.com/black-leaders-condemn-attacks-by-sanders-supporters-ami-1838259737

In a draft letter obtained by Splinter on Thursday, dozens of prominent black progressive leaders condemned the “hateful, violent, and racist threats” they said have been leveled by “self-identified [Bernie] Sanders supporters” against black leaders in the wake of the Working Families Party’s endorsement of Elizabeth Warren for president.

One of the letter’s signatories, Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, said in an email that the version of the letter obtained by Splinter was not final.

“The WFP made a decision, with its members and supporters and staff, and there is now conflict over the substance of that decision,” the letter reads in part.

Here’s the full text of the letter:

This week, the Working Families Party (WFP) issued an endorsement of Presidential contender Elizabeth Warren. For months, the WFP engaged its supporters, members, and chapters in a process meant to equip everyone with the tools to make an informed decision.

It was brave of the WFP to make an early endorsement, and it signals that the WFP is ready to be a real contender for power. Risks are important in politics — the courage to take an early stand and put it all on the line is an indication that much is at stake in this political moment, for all of us.

The WFP made a decision, with its members and supporters and staff, and there is now conflict over the substance of that decision. But let’s also be clear — the WFP is under new leadership. For the first time in its history, Maurice Mitchell, a Black man with decades of experience building movements and strengthening our democracy, alongside Nelini Stamp, a working class, woman of color and a gifted organizer with a long list of accomplishments, are now at the helm of the Party, where they should be. And apparently, some folks aren’t happy about it.

These incredible leaders who led an organization to take a risk by lifting up the leadership of Black, Latinx, Asian and Pacific Islander and white communities in coalescing around a candidate with enough time to engage their communities deeply ahead of the 2020 election, are being threatened on a daily basis, by self-identified Sanders supporters, with hateful, violent and racist threats. “Uncle Tom.” “Slave.” “Cunt.” These kinds of threats have no place in our movements, and are reminiscent of the threats Black people would receive when daring to vote even though the white supremacists would try and discourage Black people from doing so.

The virulent, racist attacks on these leaders are unacceptable and dangerous. What do we do when racism and sexism is present in progressive movements? What is the prospect of strengthening democracy when old habits just won’t die?

Many of us, the undersigned, are no stranger to these kinds of attacks—too many of us receive threats like these ones every day because we dare to organize our people towards freedom. But if we hope to take back this democracy, if we dare to struggle for electoral justice, if we really want a world where Black lives do in fact matter, all of us must take a stand against these real and persistent threats.

Online attacks, threats and smears against Black leaders are unacceptable — especially when there is so much at stake for our movements. While we punch horizontally, those who have real power over our lives take advantage of our disintegration and our disorganization. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and perhaps a number of other candidates would be much better than what we’ve got now. And that is the real fight ahead of us.

We refuse to concede to white terror from the Left as well as the Right. We can argue about the differences between Sanders and Warren, but not if we can’t be distinguished from our real opposition.

As Black leaders in this movement, we are calling on each other to keep reaching for each other, even when it gets hard, even when we disagree, even when we’re disappointed. We demand that the Sanders campaign unequivocally denounce the racism in its ranks, and issue a public statement separating themselves from these abhorrent attacks. And we call on our movement to recommit to the real fight ahead of us. Democracy isn’t built in a day, and the WFP will need us, Sanders supporters and Warren supporters, to come together to defeat one of the most serious threats to peace and justice in our lifetimes. We cannot wait to make justice real amongst the resisters — our lives literally depend on each other.

Signed,

[Cha]

1. Good luck with that.. This is NOT

helping with POC outreach.

Who could have predicted this would be the result of WFP endorsing EW?

[msongs]

2. sorta depends on if the persons attacking are actually bernie supporters nt

[MustLoveBeagles]

5. I'm not ruling out a RW hit job

[Sapient Donkey]

7. Agreed. Based on my experiences with Sanders supporters I don't see many of them being racist/sexist

I say this as someone who is often debating and arguing with the most hardcore bernie or bust types too. I am sure there are some who are like that, or who think their don't have to live by their own ideals. But I tend to lean toward the majority of these coming from actors who are not acting in good faith. Too many shenanigans from too many groups to take thing as they appear by first appearance. Really need to dig in to look for those connections. Could be republican operatives, could be russian or chinese or any other troll farms, could be random trolls just stirring up trouble for their own amusement, or a combination of the above.


*edit*

So, I tried looking for the types of posts they were referring to, but it was difficult to find them since at this time the majority of the discussion about non-specific racist/sexist tweets. I did find an article that gave enough of the tweet to find the actual live tweet despite the name not being included.

Here's a screenshot of the tweet in question and their bot score. I tend to think of these bot score sites the same way I view those internet IQ sites, but it might give some idea of what we're dealing with. You can also take a look at this person's posting style to make your own judgement https://twitter.com/justintruth37





Here's the article that I got the tweet text from https://time.com/5681261/working-families-party-harrassment/


This is just one that I found. I would look for more, but I need to try to sleep.

[quakerboy]

12. Or at least generally trying to be less so than general society at large

Plenty of people in the Bernie camp have prejudices and contribute to institutional racism. Pretty much all of us in this country do.

But yeah. I'd say the vast majority of verified real people Bernie Supporters would also condemn these purported supporters comments and attacks. Certainly every one of the ones I know personally, even the ones that are quite passionate to the point they are mad at me for still being on the fence about who I prefer in the primary.

[yardwork]

44. That's certainly a possibility, but Bernie chose poor leaders for his campaign imo

Bernie put Jill Stein supporters in charge of his campaign. A very bad decision.

[MustLoveBeagles]

45. I agree

That was big mistake on his part. It's also a possibility it's a mix of Bernie's extreme supporters and RW's stirring up trouble.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

10. It's so obvious!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[Cha]

3. This isn't the first time we've seen this.

[ritapria]

4. Bernie is a Racist : Another Trump encouraging White Nationalism?

What has Bernie done wrong ? He has a civil rights record that is impeccable … We have no evidence that these nuts are actually Bernie Supporters....

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

11. Precisely!! I'm callin bullshit on these allegations!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[LanternWaste]

16. This is troubling for Bernie.

[mopinko]

6. well bernie. did you learn anything from the last run?

doesnt look that way.
if he cant rein in the trolls, i dont think he can run the country.

[quakerboy]

13. Thats.. a rather high bar youve set there

Which candidate, or former president, can rein in internet trolls? Particularly in a world where Russia is flooding our politics with paid trolls, I'm pretty dubious that its possible.

[mopinko]

31. seems like a valid test for our time.

he could call them out, shut them down on his pages, and tell them to shove their support he doesnt need them.

[quakerboy]

35. That assumes that they are on "his" pages

Some may be. If they are talking like this there.. then its on his people to deal with it. But the article, best I can tell, is primarily about a handful of random internet harassers who are claiming to be Bernie supporters. Lumped in with a larger number of people who are expressing dissatisfaction with the process of the decision of the WFP in a reasonable manner.

Also, he has "'This campaign condemns racist bulling and harassment of any kind, in any space' Sanders tweeted Thursday."

In short.. This sure looks like a handy way for a few trolls of unknown origin to provide the media cover to try and divide the left before the election, from my vantage.

[mopinko]

36. when they start outing them, and making an example of them,

get back to me.

[quakerboy]

38. Just as soon as

We start providing federal investigative powers to campaigns, I'm sure they will all get right on that. Till then, every single candidate will fail your test.

[ritapria]

8. Bernie can control every troll ?

How ?

[Act_of_Reparation]

18. He can't.

This is a symptom of intraparty dysfunction. The angriest and most disaffected attached themselves to the candidate most distant from the status quo. If Bernie Sanders had never entered the race, these folks would have found someone else to latch onto.

That being said, Sanders still needs to do what he can to try to keep these people under wraps. Sanders supporters can help him in this regard by categorically denouncing this behavior. I know it sucks, as the tendency is to want to defend your preferred candidate (particularly against certain people with suspect motives), but at the end of the day it is bad optics.

[George II]

20. He can and should control his closest surrogates. Have you read the things that Sirota....

...has written on twitter? It's amazing that he was hired.

[ehrnst]

26. This is no single troll. This is a large group, who are harrassing WFP

specifically because they endosed Warren, and they self-identified as Sanders supporters.

His campaign missed the chance to condemn that it was done in his name. I wish he had worded it as something that he himself was condemning. "I and my campaign condemn racist bulling and harassment of any kind, in any space, especially in my name. This is offensive to me personally."

“This campaign condemns racist bulling and harassment of any kind, in any space” Sanders tweeted Thursday. “We are building a multiracial movement for justice—that’s how we win the White House.”

[mopinko]

32. he can lead, ferchrissakes.

every troll, no.

but he's has 3 years to think about this problem, and he doesnt have a handle on it.
he needs to denounce those trolls, track them down, give them back their money, and send them to the nearest da.

and, oh, yeah, stop hiring trolls to run the place.

[betsuni]

9. Lots of comments at Splinter about how WFP rigged things and Bernie supporters would never

make such attacks. Conspiracy theories and gaslighting. The usual.

[NurseJackie]

24. It's one thing to be disappointed... but they REALLY DO have a sense of ENTITLEMENT about this.

It's one thing to be disappointed... but they REALLY DO have a sense of ENTITLEMENT about this. I've seen this type of thing before. It will not end well.

[ehrnst]

28. Victim blaming. No suprise. (nt)

[Thekaspervote]

14. EW would do well to completely severe herself from mr sanders

[Cha]

15. From another thread...

“I do not personally think that Bernie Sanders would condone this behavior,” says Ollom. “It’s not all Bernie supporters, but people are doing this in his name. A lot of people have their picture as his profile picture. When it seems to come from a collection of people speaking on behalf of this candidate, it definitely looks bad.”

In response to requests from TIME, Sanders’ campaign declined to offer further comment.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=287649

[Tom Rinaldo]

17. Some loose hinged people are drawn to every cause. But there are also disinformation campaigns

Russian trolls and bots agitated on both sides of any divisive issue they could find in 2016 in order to sow disunity. This has already been well established. Often they sought to inflame along racial lines. We know damn well those bots actually weren't who they claimed to be in all of those posts they made on social media, in all of their letters to the editor etc.

It is so easy for anyone or any entity to disingenuously self identify as "Bernie supporters" while making intentionally disruptive statements. And there is no logical reason on earth to believe that is not happening now. It is such a low hanging fruit way to divide those left of center.

[NurseJackie]

25. Sure, that's a "possibility" ... but not likely.

It is so easy for anyone or any entity to disingenuously self identify as "Bernie supporters"

Sure, that's a "possibility" ... but not likely. Considering the ugly behavior of delegates at the convention, considering the Jill Stein supporters that have been hired by the BS campaign, considering the hateful and divisive rhetoric from Sirota... well, I'm seeing a pattern and similarities, and ongoing choices and behavior that reveal much to anyone who's paying attention.

And there is no logical reason on earth to believe that is not happening now.

I think most people are smarter about things like this than they're being given credit for. We're not dumb. We weren't born yesterday. We can read. We have memories.

All I'm trying to say is that the VERY generous interpretation and excuse-making that's being laid at the feet of the BS campaign isn't deserved and it's just going to encourage more of the same.

[LongtimeAZDem]

27. This isn't a few bad apples; this is a repeat of the tactics endemic to his 2016 campaign

[mcar]

19. Will Sanders finally speak out about his racist, sexist supporters?

Obviously, not all of his supporters are so, but some are. This has been going on way too long for him to remain silent.

[ehrnst]

22. +1000. (nt)

[ehrnst]

21. This is concerning. (nt)

[Amimnoch]

23. Sounds 100% in line with some of his supporters I've engaged with.

May be a Russian thing.. although per the investigation and wording of indictments, it would seem the Russians have been more supportive of Bernie's candidacy. Seems unlikely to me they'd make a move like this that would harm his chances.

May be conservative trolls striving to sew division.

However, given the language used in the referenced attacks in the other thread, it does sound to me like 100% of the same type of language regularly used by a segment of his actual supporters that I've engaged with in social circles and in online discussions of various formats.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

30. These miscreants have no place in our party

[honest.abe]

33. What tiny black support Sanders had is now gone.

[PhoenixDem]

34. Thank god he still has Killer Mike n/t

[Scurrilous]

37. LOL

[BlueMississippi]

39. Many Sanders supporters will eventually get it

unless they vote for third party like before

[George II]

41. My worry is what is "it" that they get.

[BlueMississippi]

42. The "it" should be

that their candidate could never win the nomination without support from centrists and African Americans. His losses are because his candidacy does not resonate with a majority of the Democratic electorate.

He (and they) should have expected that after his calls to primary President Obama in 2012.

[Gothmog]

50. Yep

[NYMinute]

40. K&R nt

[micDROP]

43. the bern didnt

aint no bernie bro put that trash out
I don't like him though but he aint that.

[Gothmog]

46. She criticized Bernie for not attending the LGBTQ+ forum, so you know what happened next.

Link to tweet

[George II]

47. Disgusting what they'll resort to - hopefully if you're at the Convention next year there will be...

....a lot fewer delegates to harass and curse at your daughter.

[Gothmog]

48. I am hoping that the 15% rule will keep sanders under 300 delegates

Right now I am not planning on going. National conventions are once in a life time experiences. I am hopeful that sanders can be kept under 300 delegates and not have his name put into nomination. One key item is that under the rules, a candidate cannot be put into nomination without 300 delegates. https://democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2020-Call-for-Convention-WITH-Attachments-2.26.19.pdf

Nomination of the Democratic Candidate for President: The Permanent Chair shall receive nominations from the floor for the Democratic candidate for the Office of President of the United
States in the following manner:

a. Requests to nominate a presidential candidate shall be in writing and shall have affixed thereto the written approval of the proposed nominee and the name of the individuals who shall be recognized to make the nominating and seconding speeches on behalf of a presidential candidate and shall be delivered to the Convention Secretary at a location as specified by the Secretary no later than 6:00 p.m. of the day preceding the day designated for the commencement of presidential nominations.

b. Each such request must be accompanied by a petition indicating support for the proposed nominee signed by delegates representing not less than 300 or more than 600 delegate votes, not more than 50 of which may come from one (1) delegation. A delegate may not sign more than one (1) nominating petition for president and for vice president. Pledged and automatic delegates may sign the petition.

I signed the petition for Clinton in 2016 to put her into nomination but we have over 170 Clinton supporters in the Texas delegation.

If sanders is frozen out of enough states due to the 15% rule and remaining non-Biden delegates are split among several candidates, there is a chance that sanders may not reach 300 threshold

[George II]

49. Bazinga!

[blm]

51. Sounds like Russian trolls posing as Sanders supporters as they did in 2016

I don’t know and Sanders supporters who act like this