Some of Sanders' responses are complete head-scratchers

[Empowerer]

Question: Oftentimes, you treat racial concerns as if they are economic ones, saying that creating jobs and reducing economic inequality is the solution to racially-charged issues. How is creating jobs for low income earners going to stop a system of police brutality towards ba a system of mass incarceration of black men or even a poor education s system for the predominantly black inner cities across America

Answer: We got more people in jail today in United States of American than any other country on earth. 2.2 million people, largely African Americans and Hispanics ... make any sense to anybody? Not to me. So what do we have to do? We gotta do a lotta things.

Is there a connection between economics and people ending up in jail? Well let me tell you something. Today, you know what the youth unemployment rate for African-American kids is? It is 51% and sometimes kids get into trouble when they don't have jobs. So you know what I think? We're gonna invest in education and jobs, not more jails and incarcerations.

Number Two. Every person in this country, I hope - black, white, latino - is disgusted when turn on the television we see videos of unarmed people, often African-Americans, being shot. We need real police reform in this country. Police departments are run by local departments. Federal government can play a major role. So what we have got to do is make it clear throughout this country that if a police officer breaks the law, like any other public official, that police officer will be held accountable.

We have got to de-militarize local police departments so they do not look like occupying armies. We have got to make police departments look like the diversity of the communities that they are serving. There's a whole lot that has to be done but I would love to continue this discussion.

But please. We're in a campaign and the Secretary will say what she'll say. I was arrested when I was 22 years old at the University of Chicago. You know what I was arrested for? Fighting segregation. So I have this issue - And I know that I date myself when I tell you that in 1963, I was there in Washington for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom with Dr. Martin Luther King. This has been something that I have felt strongly about my entire life.

Question: You said race relations would be better under a President Sanders than they have been under President Obama. Why do you believe that?

Sanders: Well, I believe is that President Obama has made significant progress and we're going to build on that progress. We can always do better. And the progress we can build on is to understand that we should not have 35 percent of African-Americans kids in this country living in poverty. We need real police reform. We need to understand that when people are in jail, often AA and Latino, there is a path back to civil society, so we don't have the recidivism that we have right now. We have got to do away with mandatory minimum sentences. And I'll give you one example where we can make huge progress. It turns out that the African-American community and white community smoke marijuana at about the equal levels. But it also turns out that blacks are more than four times more likely to be arrested for possession of marijuana. that is why I believe that we should take marijuana out of the Federal Control Substance Act. Too many young lives have been destroyed. Too many young people have incurred police records for possession of marijuana.

Hunh?

1. There's a connection between economics and people ending up in jail because sometimes African-American kids who don't have jobs commit crimes? Are these the young people standing around on the corner?

2. You're going to solve this by investing in education and jobs, not jails and incarceration. Care to elaborate on that?

3. Police Departments are run by local governments but the federal government has a big role to play. What role is that? What exactly would the federal government do in a Sanders administration to "make clear that" police officers who break the law "are held accountable."

4. What does your attendance at the March on Washington or being arrested for fighting segregation in 1963 have to do with creating jobs, crime, police brutality and mass incarceration?

5. A Sanders Administration will improve race relations by understanding that it's wrong for so many black kids to be in poverty, police reform, getting rid of mandatory minimums, understanding there's a "path back to civil society" for prisoners (mostly black and Latino) and taking marijuana out of the Federal Control Substance Act?

As I said,

[fun n serious]

1. I missed it. Can you help me...

Find where I can watch it online?

[Empowerer]

4. I'm sorry - I don't know. I watched it live.

[TCJ70]

2. Some answers...

...just my opinion:
1. This is true. Young people with nothing to do tend to do stupid things. We've all been young before, I'm certain we can remember our proclivity towards recklessness.

2. He has, repeatedly. Increasing funding for schools in largely minority (kind of backwards, right? Wouldn't that make it a majority? Off topic) communities and addressing the inequities in punishment. He has also called for targeted funds towards small business owners in communities of color. (that was at the MN event)

3. He's called for using the DoJ to investigate police shooting when an unarmed victim is involved. That's one part of it.

4. It's an experience he had that shaped his opinions going forward. We are all just a collection of our experiences.

5. This question isn't really specific enough to answer...

[Empowerer]

3. Thanks - here's my take:

1. This is true. Young people with nothing to do tend to do stupid things. We've all been young before, I'm certain we can remember our proclivity towards recklessness.

I agree - But the question was about how creating jobs was going to stop a system of police brutality and mass incarceration. Sanders' answer is that some black kids without jobs commit crimes. That has nothing to do with police brutality and mass incarceration - in fact, one of the problems with police brutality and mass incarceration is that it traps people who have not committed any crimes. This answer sounds an awful like his comment the other day about jobless kids hanging around street corners. It's non-responsive, feeds into an inaccurate stereotype and was completely tone-deaf.

2. He has, repeatedly. Increasing funding for schools in largely minority (kind of backwards, right? Wouldn't that make it a majority? Off topic) communities and addressing the inequities in punishment. He has also called for targeted funds towards small business owners in communities of color. (that was at the MN event) Not only does this have nothing to do with the question asked, he offered no details at all to those listening to the town hall. The answer sounded like Trump's answers - "We're going to do fantastic things and it will be great."

3. He's called for using the DoJ to investigate police shooting when an unarmed victim is involved. That's one part of it. He can call for that, but unless Congress passes new civil rights legislation, DOJ's jurisdiction is very limited. They can investigate all they want, but they have very limited jurisdiction for prosecuting police officers in such instances.

4. It's an experience he had that shaped his opinions going forward. We are all just a collection of our experiences. This was pandering, plain and simple - a complete non-sequitur. "You're asking me about race. Did I ever mention that I was at the March on Washington?"

5. This question isn't really specific enough to answer... I thought it was plenty specific. He started off ok by sounding as if he was going to clean up is awful answer from last week by saying he would build on what President Obama is doing. But then he wandered off into a weird, non-sequitur ramble about poverty and crime and marijuana smoking, which has nothing to do with race relations. It was just bizarre.