Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
 

EffieBlack

(14,249 posts)
Tue Mar 1, 2016, 09:24 PM Mar 2016

Repost from GDP: The "PoC don't support Bernie because they don't know him" claim is actually true

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511378718

Despite all evidence to the contrary, many of Bernie Sanders supporters continue to claim that the only reason he is struggling with black voters is that "they don't know him," but if when they learn that "he's been fighting for civil rights for PoC his entire life" they will flock to support him.

But if Bernie really were the great civil rights crusader that his supporters claim he is, he wouldn't have to be "introduced" to black voters. They would already know who he is and what he has been doing for their community.

Bernie's problem is not that black people don't know enough about his record - and if only they are told about it again and again, louder and louder, they will fall in love with him, too. The problem is that if his civil rights record were as robust and exceptional as his supporters claim, they wouldn't have to explain it to black people since they would already know about it.

And this is not an instance where anyone can claim with a straight face that "Bernie doesn't seek attention or glory." This isn't about seeking attention. If he were actually working so hard for black people, the people he's supposedly been fighting so hard for would know it because they're in the arena fighting, too and they know that Bernie was not in the arena with them - at least not long enough or meaningfully enough to develop relationships with any of the people there or even to make enough of an impression that anyone remembered him.

This doesn't mean he hasn't supported civil rights for PoC - he clearly has. But for the past 50 years, he's been doing it from the sidelines, far away from the real, hard, day-to-day work that people who are fighting for civil rights must do. While he has occasionally leaned into the ring to offer encouragement and support, he has not been a presence in the arena. The people who ARE fighting in the ring doing that work know the other people who are also doing it - and if they don't know them firsthand, there aren't many degrees of separation between them. And they don't need to be introduced to them and have their record explained to them after they decide to run for President. If Bernie had been such a fighter for civil rights over the past several decades, black folk would already know it and Bernie's supporters (most of whom also have never been spent any time in the arena) would not need to try to explain it to them.

The fact that this isn't the case should tell you something because it speaks volumes about why Bernie is having so much difficulty getting the support of more than a handful of black voters.
8 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Repost from GDP: The "PoC don't support Bernie because they don't know him" claim is actually true (Original Post) EffieBlack Mar 2016 OP
You know they ain't trying to hear that over in GDP Chitown Kev Mar 2016 #1
Interestingly, this OP did not bring in the usual nasty, snark that these posts tend to get there EffieBlack Mar 2016 #3
What's ironic is Jamaal510 Mar 2016 #2
So well written and as simply Kind of Blue Mar 2016 #4
Good point JustAnotherGen Mar 2016 #5
This is excellent. thucythucy Mar 2016 #6
All I can say is that they were forewarned. A dusty 50 yr. old dossier on BS' civil rights....... Tarheel_Dem Mar 2016 #7
That's actually an excellent point... OneGrassRoot Mar 2016 #8

Chitown Kev

(2,197 posts)
1. You know they ain't trying to hear that over in GDP
Tue Mar 1, 2016, 09:49 PM
Mar 2016

Yes, one must make good faith efforts at these things (as I have) but...you know...YOU KNOW!

 

EffieBlack

(14,249 posts)
3. Interestingly, this OP did not bring in the usual nasty, snark that these posts tend to get there
Tue Mar 1, 2016, 10:19 PM
Mar 2016

Perhaps it's because the point is impossible to refute.

Kind of Blue

(8,709 posts)
4. So well written and as simply
Tue Mar 1, 2016, 10:50 PM
Mar 2016

put as the simple answer.

It still is confusing that he didn't know that. That he could non-challantly breeze in as a presidential candidate not knowing his base at all.

Tarheel_Dem

(31,211 posts)
7. All I can say is that they were forewarned. A dusty 50 yr. old dossier on BS' civil rights.......
Thu Mar 3, 2016, 04:13 AM
Mar 2016

"activism" just doesn't inspire much confidence. He left Brooklyn, moved to one of the whitest enclaves in the country, and never looked back. Most college students from that era, were involved to varying degrees, in some sort of Civil Rights. It's what you did. However, far too many got their degrees, left college & the Civil Rights activism became but a distant memory, and something to drag out when convenient.

OneGrassRoot

(22,917 posts)
8. That's actually an excellent point...
Thu Mar 3, 2016, 08:29 AM
Mar 2016
But if Bernie really were the great civil rights crusader that his supporters claim he is, he wouldn't have to be "introduced" to black voters. They would already know who he is and what he has been doing for their community.



I like both of our candidates; I have issues with each but will have no hesitation voting for either of them.

I highly respect Bernie's consistency over the years, but his message has always been about economic justice. That is a blessing and a curse as I see it: It is a blessing in that he is consistent and it is a message that resonates, but a curse in that he hasn't diversified his message to more visibly and vocally include issues of racial injustice which have little to do with economics. Even if there were wealth equality, it wouldn't solve the underlying racist, bigoted culture in which we live.

Maybe Bernie never expected to get this far and was in it to raise awareness of the issue of economic injustice and inequality; if so, he has done a great job thus far. Regardless, reaching out to non-white voters in a big way didn't come soon enough, not soon enough for him to be a more known entity by Super Tuesday.

Latest Discussions»Alliance Forums»African American»Repost from GDP: The "PoC...