2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: POC aren't buying the "Bernie's been fighting for you all his life so you should vote for him" claim [View all]EffieBlack
(14,249 posts)I have yet to see anyone answer the question that has been posed on DU numerous times: What has Bernie Sanders done in the past 50 years to fight for civil rights for people of color that involved him taking a political risk or going against his Vermont base? Can you name anything?
Voting is easy. Voting the way his liberal all-white constituency wants him to vote is easy. Giving speeches is easy, especially when he's saying things that his constituency agrees with. Making statements is easy, especially when he's repeating things his constituency agrees with. Everything on your list was politically expedient for him because it was completely in line with what his constituency wanted him to do. It required no risk or courage. But no one can seem to point to anything that he has done in the last 50 years that is hard, that required him to go out on a limb, that put him at any kind of political risk.
Bernie is a good man. He supports civil rights. But he has not fought for civil rights for blacks since he left Chicago 50 years ago. And trying to convince black people to vote for him based on that record is not getting you anywhere.