Sanders: "When you are white, you don’t know what it’s like to be living in a ghetto,

[bluestateguy]

you don’t know what it’s like to be poor..."

Wait, what?

[Matariki]

1. Yeah, that was kind of unfortunate.

[GreatGazoo]

50. Because many people don't know what "ghetto" means

Those trying to make an issue of this want to ignore the fact that ghettos are created by lack of choices for certain groups or by outright laws or banking regulations and policies like redlining that forced (and still do) POC into certain areas. Has that ever happened to white people?

ghet·to
ˈɡedō/
noun
noun: ghetto; plural noun: ghettoes; plural noun: ghettos

1.
a part of a city, especially a slum area, occupied by a minority group or groups.
historical
the Jewish quarter in a city.
"the Warsaw Ghetto"
an isolated or segregated group or area.
"the relative security of the gay ghetto"

verb
verb: ghetto; 3rd person present: ghettoes; past tense: ghettoed; past participle: ghettoed; gerund or present participle: ghettoing

1.
put in or restrict to an isolated or segregated area or group.

But whatever the root language, the word's original meaning was clear: "the quarter in a city, chiefly in Italy, to which the Jews were restricted," as the OED puts it. In the 16th and 17th centuries, cities like Venice, Frankfurt, Prague and Rome forcibly segregated their Jewish populations, often walling them off and submitting them to onerous restrictions.

By the late 19th century, these ghettos had been steadily dismantled. But instead of vanishing from history, ghettos reappeared — with a purpose more ominous than segregation — under Nazi Germany. German forces established ghettos in over a thousand cities across Europe. They were isolated, strictly controlled and resource-deprived — but unlike the ghettos of history, they weren't meant to last.

Reviving the Jewish ghetto made genocide a much simpler project. As the Holocaust proceeded, ghettos were emptied by the trainload. The prisoners of the enormous Warsaw ghetto, which at one point held 400,000 Jews, famously fought their deportation to death camps. They were outnumbered and undersupplied, but some managed to die on their own terms; thousands of Jews were killed within the walls of the ghetto, rather than in the camps.

http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/04/27/306829915/segregated-from-its-history-how-ghetto-lost-its-meaning

It is still surprising to me that some think racism is over and poor white and poor AAs have the same options. Perhaps the same people fail to see how Open Carry laws embody racism. Racism is real and it has real effects. Just because some people don't see or feel those effects doesn't mean they get to lecture the rest of us or claim that racism is over.

[yardwork]

56. If Bernie was talking about redlining, he should have said so.

His actual words were unfortunate and muddied his message. There are two major problems with what he said -

First, it sounds like he's saying that no white people live in poverty, which is the opposite of the message he's built his entire campaign on; and

Second, it sounds like he's equating being black with being poor, which is insulting to middle- and upper-income blacks.

Whatever he intended to say, it came out wrong.

[Lucinda]

2. Yeah. Not good at all.

[Snotcicles]

3. Yeah you missed part of it. nt

[LuvLoogie]

4. Not the best phrasing. But having only recently ventured forth from Vermont perhaps

leaves him rusty in that regard.

[BernieforPres2016]

10. Yeah, Hillary has more experience living in mixed neighborhoods, LOL.

[LuvLoogie]

13. It's not about where you live--but where you go, who you meet. nt

[Zynx]

5. Yeah, I'm not even blaming Bernie for that. A lot of Dems don't talk about this right.

Many many white people in this country are crushingly poor. They don't face institutionalized racism, but they face deep poverty and lousy public institutions in the areas in which they live.

[pat_k]

44. Of course. And on the flip side...

... lots of non-whites have never experienced poverty, and don't know what it's like.

But there is a tragic reality behind the asinine generalization. The correlation between poverty and race is horribly high.

Numbers may differ depending on parameters used in a given study, but here are some from 2013 (Source: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cce.pdf p.3)

% of children living in poverty

White: 13%
Asian: 13%
Two or more races: 21%
Pacific Islander: 27%
Hispanic: 32%
Native American: 36%
African American: 39%

[yardwork]

57. Well, except that economics is the center of his campaign.

How could he mess this up so badly when his entire message is about economic disparities?

It looks like a clumsy attempt to start talking about racism - which he's been steadfastly reluctant to do - so clumsy that he ended up undermining the central thesis of his entire campaign.

[JI7]

6. His point was that the Experience of a POC will be different than a White Person

the way he said it did not come out right. but that's the point he was making .

[imagine2015]

8. Right. And when was the last time you heard anyone speak about the "white ghetto"?

[pat_k]

45. Of course, but sadly, it didn't come out that way.

I hope he figures out a good way to deal with the gaff. There's no way around it. The words embody the generalization that whites don't experience poverty, and therefore don't know what it's like, and non-whites have all experienced poverty, and therefore do know what it's like.

Big F-Up

He could have changed one thing, and it would have been fine. Instead of saying "white people" he could have just said "I." And perhaps added "But you don't need to have experienced poverty or racism to be committed to fighting it. And I am committed. As a start, we can (list of relevant proposals).

But he didn't say "I." Sigh

Nobody's perfect.

[LittleBlue]

7. He's going so overboard in pandering that he's making ludicrous statements

Sad to see.

[Snotcicles]

12. LOL, all the while winning the hell out of that debate. nt

[redstateblues]

17. Between his voting against the Auto industry bailout

And his tone deaf "ghetto" remark Bernie stumbled badly

[jfern]

18. He didn't vote against the auto bailout

[yourpaljoey]

51. Hillary got clobbered. She is such an easy target it's kinda hard to watch.

Look for more of the same.

[BernieforPres2016]

9. Your candidate got crushed

and you're grasping at straws.

[liberal_at_heart]

11. I grew up in a trailer park and no I don't know what it is like to live in a ghetto.

I walked freely down the street and was never once stopped, harassed, or beaten by the police. In fact, I was able to sleep with the door unlocked. That's how safe my white trailer park was. I doubt the African Americans who actually do live in a ghetto are privileged enough to do that.

[angstlessk]

14. You brought tears to my eyes

Not that you were never stopped, but how proud you stated your circumstances.

We too lived poor after my father died. Only my sisters and my SS survivors benefits kept us homeless after the bank fired my mother because she was too close to retirement benefits.

[liberal_at_heart]

15. No doubt it was hard. My mother died when I was 3 and my father worked very long

hours for very little money. But I know there are those who had it harder than I did and for much different reasons. I'm sorry to hear of your difficult times after your father died.

[Triana]

16. Should have said "when you are white, you are LESS LIKELY to know..." n/t

[BernieforPres2016]

21. If he missed a word or misspoke slightly

His intent could not have been more clear and his answer was a good one. If he didn't think about that issue he would not have had the memory of a black House colleague who said he had trouble getting a cab to stop for him on the top of his head. It clearly made an impression on him.

Bernie's empathy for minorities is clear and he has demonstrated it in words and deeds for over 50 years. Anybody who tries to attack him on it because he comes from Vermont is going to come off looking like an idiot.

[Triana]

53. I understood his meaning. Unfortunately others are looking for a splinter to make political hay with

I agree w/you. He's the real deal and really our last chance to have any semblance of Democracy here - either in the Democratic Party itself or America. And unfortunately the brainwashed masses who are more comfortable with the status quo are going to chew him up and spit him out -- along with their own best interests and the better futures of their own kids.

We'll never see Democracy or anything remotely Democratic again in my lifetime. America has well and truly fucked itself AFAIC.

[Lorien]

19. I was a white person living in a black ghetto for a couple of years

but it still wan't the same for me, even though I had less money than the black family I was renting a basement from (yes, I was THAT poor; I couldn't even afford a proper room in a ghetto). I had something they didn't have: opportunities. 18 years later I was working in the film industry and making six figures. I'm guessing that my former landlords and neighbors weren't so fortunate. True poverty is more than simply having no money; it's having no hope. Knowing that no matter how hard you work, how well you watch what you do and say, how much you try to adapt, you'll always be thought of as "less" and be under constant threat by law enforcement for something that you have no control over. I can understand that to a degree, but I'll never know what it's like to live it.

[BernieforPres2016]

22. And the experience of seeing a police officer behind you when you are driving the speed limit

or a police car slowly going by when you are walking on a sidewalk and doing nothing wrong is not something where a white person can put themselves in the place of a black person.

[liberal_at_heart]

23. well said!

[ecstatic]

35. Interesting, but like Sanders, you're tying poverty and racism together. nt

[elljay]

38. That is exactly what makes a ghetto

The original ghetto was the part of Venice to which Jews were confined and the term spread to other segregated areas in which Jews were forced to live throughout Europe. The term has taken on the meaning of:

....a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghetto

So, by definition, a ghetto is not a poor neighborhood (in fact, the original Jewish ghettos were usually, but not exclusively poor), but one in which a minority group is intentionally segregated and restricted. While we now associate U.S. ghettos by race, there was a time when they were inhabited by the Irish, Italians, Jews and other undesirable immigrant groups.

Sanders was trying to explain that a person from a majority group has not experienced this additional burden of bigotry experienced by minorities. He may not have used the most artful expression, but his meaning was clear.

[Lorien]

40. It's crazy to think that the two aren't directly linked.

Racism (and sexism) often lead to poverty for those on the receiving end.

[ecstatic]

46. Perhaps, but 25%

of African Americans are poor. 75% are not. However, 100% of blacks are affected by direct/ indirect racism, regardless of income level.

[bravenak]

20. Tone deaf like I said

[desmiller]

29. Hillary is too.

[bravenak]

30. She is merely tone impaired

[Lorien]

41. "Explain in three emojis how your student debt makes you feel"

No, I'd call her f*cking clueless.

[bravenak]

42. Yeah but this op was on race so maybe you are off topic

[fun n serious]

24. There are white people in white ghettos. But I guess to Bernie there are only black ghettos. :(

[Gwhittey]

61. One can not

be held responsible for the ignorance of others.

ghetto:

noun
1.
a part of a city, especially a slum area, occupied by a minority group or groups.
verb
1.
put in or restrict to an isolated or segregated area or group.

So no there is not

[ecstatic]

25. I had to rewind when he said that,

like did this guy just say WTF I think he did?! Unbelievable moment. It derailed the debate for me.

But the irony is that his answer inadvertently exposed a "racial blind spot." Hopefully he'll continue trying to learn and grow. Killer Mike should take him on a ride along in some metro Atlanta suburbs and get him caught up. But at the end of the day, to really gain a deeper understanding, he needs to expand his social circle and get out more.

[BernieforPres2016]

34. What a total load of crap

You are intentionally misrepresenting what he said. I guess that's all you've got to work with tonight.

[ecstatic]

36. How so?

[alcibiades_mystery]

26. Bernie talking like its 1962

Get them damn black and white pictures out.

#intheghetto
#nobodyssmiling

[bravenak]

33. Like we live in an episode of 'Good Times'.

[kennetha]

27. As if all blacks live in ghettos and no whites do

as if racism is only faced by poor inner city blacks, as if it doesn't stalk the lives of working class, middle class, and upper middle class blacks.


The guy is clueless about race in America. It is no accident that his appeal is, shall we say, limited.

[Ned_Devine]

28. Seriously? That was your takeaway? That's a pretty big stretch

When Hillary wasn't filibustering her answers or avoiding answering the actual questions given to her, she was appearing unhinged and out of control. For someone that can normally maintain her composure during these debates, she was way off tonight. Bernie seemed level headed and succinct with all of his answers and the one to which you are referring, I completely understood where he was going with his answer.

[Kalidurga]

31. Is this whatcha all are goin with now?

Just to be clear that a minute ago it was Bernie doesn't talk about social disparity at all. Now he does and he is anti poor white people?

[cannabis_flower]

32. Yeah, I'm a Sander's supporter but

I do know that there are poor white people that also live in the ghetto. I would venture to say that I have been one. A white person might be just as poor and live in a ghetto but what white poor white people don't know is the situation where people look at them different just because of their skin color.

A poor white person, if they are not so poor that they don't have a nice job interview outfit, can go to a job interview or to rent an apartment and not be judged on the color of their skin. In fact, a middle class black person could often be judged or stopped by the police just for being black. In fact, even if a black person is rich and lives in a nice neighborhood they could be judged. They could be stopped in their own neighborhood and treated like a criminal. It is definitely not fair.

I used to work in a bank and one of the other bank employees who was black was late for work because he was stopped by the police and handcuffed and interrogated on the street. He had done nothing and the police eventually let him go. I've never had that happen to me, and as I become older it becomes even less of a likelihood, this is definitely something I have never experienced.

[alp227]

37. CONTEXT of the remarks. Please read

LEMON: Thank you, Secretary.

Senator Sanders, on a personal front, what racial blind spots do you have?

SANDERS: Well, let me just very briefly tell you a story. When I was in one of my first years in Congress, I went to a meeting downtown in Washington, D.C. And I went there with another Congressman, an African-American Congressman. And then we kind of separated during the meeting. And then I saw him out later on. And he was sitting there waiting and I said, well, let's go out and get a cab. How come you didn't go out and get a cab?

He said, no, I don't get cabs in Washington, D.C. This was 20 years ago. Because he was humiliated by the fact that cabdrivers would go past him because he was black. I couldn't believe, you know, you just sit there and you say, this man did not take a cab 20 years ago in Washington, D.C. Tell you another story, I was with young people active in the Black Lives Matter movement. A young lady comes up to me and she says, you don't understand what police do in certain black communities. You don't understand the degree to which we are terrorized, and I'm not just talking about the horrible shootings that we have seen, which have got to end and we've got to hold police officers accountable, I'm just talking about every day activities where police officers are bullying people.

So to answer your question, I would say, and I think it's similar to what the secretary said, when you're white, you don't know what it's like to be living in a ghetto. You don't know what it's like to be poor. You don't know what it's like to be hassled when you walk down the street or you get dragged out of a car.

Source: CNN transcript

[quaker bill]

47. Read in context

the comment seems just fine.

[BainsBane]

39. That was weird

I don't think he actually meant that no white people are poor, but he clearly has trouble talking about race.

[pat_k]

43. If he hasn't already, he needs to make a statement on this...

...and make it a good one.

But nothing will make it "unsaid." I fear the gaff could haunt him. Sigh.

Nobody's perfect.

[BernieforPres2016]

54. BS

It is a typical Clintonian smear. There is no reason to respond to it, that just gives the smear legs.

[pat_k]

67. I'm a Bernie suppoter

.... which is why I wish he had expressed himself better.

I imagine a Clinton supporter would be happy to see him give them "amo."

[quaker bill]

48. Read the whole answer, not just a phrase.

The whole answer makes it clear that he is talking about himself and perhaps Sec. Clinton.

[bigtree]

49. it always sounds like he's saying all blacks live in ghettos

...or all black kids are on street corners waiting for a job to 'get them off the street.'

It's just patronizing bullshit. Much of the police abuse happens wherever black people happen to be, usually not in a ghetto. The abuses happen to rich and poor alike, but to hear him talk, we're all in some run down neighborhood and that's where all of the slights and abuses against blacks occur.

Maybe that's all he sees.

[firebrand80]

52. He always conflates race with class

It's not for lack of trying, but he still doesn't get it.

[pat_k]

68. Poorly said...

The unintended generalization is a screw up, but tragically, there bit of reality behind the conflation. Race and poverty are horribly correlated.

Numbers may differ depending on parameters used in a given study, but here are some from 2013 (Source: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cce.pdf p.3)

% of children living in poverty

White: 13%
Asian: 13%
Two or more races: 21%
Pacific Islander: 27%
Hispanic: 32%
Native American: 36%
African American: 39%

If he had left the middle bit to a separate, better worded, statement, then we just have:

"When you’re white, you don’t know what it’s like to be hassled when you walk down the street or get dragged out of a car."

That's just plain true.

[firebrand80]

69. Yes, but that's not what he said nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

55. Hillary found out about poverty when she was "dead broke"....right?

[randome]

63. So both candidates say stupid things on occasion? I'd agree with that.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
Leonard Cohen, Anthem (1992)[/center][/font][hr]

[George II]

58. I found that comment dumbfounding. Senator Sanders should really get out and look around....

.....his very own state.

The poverty level of Vermont is 9.7%. Since 95% of the population of Vermont is white, even if EVERY non-white citizen in Vermont is living in poverty (not likely), then about half of those 9.7% are white.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_poverty_rate

[EffieBlack]

59. It's also unfortunate that he constantly associates/limits issues of race to poverty, crime welfare

Whenever Bernie is asked about race and race relations, he immediately startts talking about crime, criminal justice, poverty and welfare.

This is an example of the tone-deafness people often refer to, only to be told, "Bernie's not a racist!"

I don't think, by any stretch of the imagination, that Bernie's a racist, or anything close to it. But he does have a very limited view of African Americans and our interests and concerns. And he's done a terrible job in this campaign of listening to us when we've tried to enlighten him. As a result, he continues to say things that suggest he still doesn't understand that all blacks aren't poor, in jail or on welfare and that most people who arer poor, in jail or on welfare aren't black.

[amborin]

65. the data suggest otherwise:

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2012/03/13/11351/the-top-10-most-startling-facts-about-people-of-color-and-criminal-justice-in-the-united-states/

these are very important issues affecting POC.

Why are you opposed to someone calling attention to these issues and offering remedies to them?

Bernie is not saying all blacks are poor, etc. But there is extremely high black unemployment and the black wealth disparity continues to increase to horrible levels.

Why don't you want attention paid to this?

[Sunlei]

60. When you're not poor you don't know how it is to live 'kettled into' poor areas. QUIT

mentioning race as much and suggest some ways the FEDERAL Gov. can make the STATE and LOCAL Govs fix this problem.

The Federal minimum from $7.25 to $15.00 would be a start.

Apply The Department of Justice (Our Federal gov.), WIN for Ferguson (where the communities legal system was determined unconstitutional last year) fixes to 'poor neighborhoods' across America.

Set people free from the most Local of barriers and they will thrive.

[Beacool]

62. That was a poor choice of words, there are poor people among every race and ethnic group.

No one has cornered the market on poverty. Unfortunately, there's enough of it to go around. There are also all sorts of "ghettos". I've seen some trailer parks in rural FL where most people were poor (they worked the fields). Appalachia comes to mind when the conversation turns to white people who are very poor.

[randome]

64. I don't think people generally use the word 'ghetto' any longer, do they?

It may have made him appear to be, well...old.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
Leonard Cohen, Anthem (1992)[/center][/font][hr]

[MaggieD]

66. And yet just ONE of the many stupid remarks....

He made last night. It was cringe inducing.