2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Online And In Person, Bernie Sanders’ White Supporters Advance A Black Lives Matter Conspiracy [View all]BainsBane
(53,032 posts)Really? When did cops stop killing black people? I've read about some killed this week alone. Seattle corresponded with major protests in Ferguson, the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown's killing. Another black man was killed, more arrested, tear gas. That doesn't constitute "handing them everything they wanted." What they want is an end to racist killings. Is that so difficult to understand?
You want to know why there wasn't as big of a flap about Clinton? Her supporters didn't make it one. Some BLM activists had criticism about Clinton. Why shouldn't they? Know what? She can handle it, and her supporters know she can handle it. Moreover, a lot of her supporters care a great deal about black lives. We want her to better address the problem, not be walled off from criticism and accountability from citizens.
This entire story is about Sanders' supporters far more than Sanders himself. If Clinton's supporters had engaged in similar behavior, you might have a point, but they haven't. Nor have I seen any Clinton supporters insist that Black Lives Matter had been "handed everything they asked for."
Private prisons are problem, but they aren't a solution to this problem. Most of those dead black people don't make it to prison. They are killed right away. The problem is racism. RACISM.
Additionally, this conspiracy shit started long before Seattle, right after Netroots, and at that point Sanders wasn't discussing these issues. He has tried to move on, but too many of his supporters seem determined to hold him back. Ultimately this says farm more about them than anything else.