2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Bernie Supporters - Please read my post [View all]senz
(11,945 posts)I am positive that there are good white people who support Blacks, hate racism, and still can't understand how profoundly injured Blacks have been by the heartlessness and coldness of a racist society. I think I have a sense of how they feel. I've flinched at racism as long as I can remember (and my "family" was covertly racist.) I've always found it easier to gaze into Black faces than most white faces, because Blacks (most Blacks) seem more real, more human, more "there" to me. I'm always surprised that so many whites can't see this. This is especially true with Black women, a group who I believe are, in general, naturally good in the way that Jesus describes goodness in his teachings and parables. I usually feel my body relax in the presence of Black women; they've always made me feel safe. I'm an older adult and hope this admission is not too unusual to understand. People like me aren't very good at catching all the nuances in conversations but for some reason we often pick up on feelings that others miss. Must be a brain difference of some sort. Must be a lot of sub-species under the homo sapiens rubric.
I have always found it very difficult to express my feelings; the best I can do, usually, is point toward them through metaphor and symbol. But the feelings are there, strong, often overpowering. It's been obvious for a long time that cops in this country treat Blacks like criminals, and it's way too clear that they have no human feeling for Black people. Thank God for cell phone cameras and internet/social media because now the evidence is unmistakeable and, since Ferguson, is finally getting the outrage it deserves. Too bad Rodney King wasn't enough to get it going but there wasn't enough social media to make it go viral. MSM won't do it on their own.
The Sandra Bland incident took me to a place where I couldn't separate grief from rage and couldn't find words. That poor young woman, confident and happy to be starting a new job, so mature and aware. That pig who trapped and attacked her. God knows what they did to her in the jail, but they must not, cannot, get away with it. Now it's coming out that other Black women are being killed by cops. It seems like scared white racism is doubling down to its essential base insanity, pure nazi-like hatred. It's out there now, visible. It's a monster. But we need to see it as weakness; otherwise I don't think we can conquer and eliminate it.
Yes, this is a perfect subject for Bernie, because he sees through the BS (does any other candidate see through it?) and he tells it like it is, speaks from his heart and soul. He's the ONLY candidate who truly cares more about people than himself. He honors decency. He honors kindness. Come to think of it, wasn't he the only candidate to talk about Sandra Bland?