20 Examples of Bernie Sanders' Powerful Record on Civil and Human Rights Since the 1950s

[99th_Monkey]

20 Examples of Bernie Sanders' Powerful Record on Civil and Human Rights Since the 1950s
From fighting segregation to standing against police violence.
By Zaid Jilani * AlterNet * July 20, 2015

Over the past few months, one lingering blemish on Bernie Sanders' candidacy for the Democratic nomination is his indifference to racial justice and civil rights issues.

But the truth is, Sanders has a 50-year history of standing up for civil and minority rights, as he told the attendants of Netroots Nation after he was interrupted by Black Lives Matter protesters. Of course, it's understandable that they want to bring attention to the movement. Killings of people from Ferguson to New York City to Los Angeles to Atlanta have finally brought important issues like police brutality, systemic racism, mass incarceration and militarization of the police into the center of national dialogue.

It is up to all candidates for the presidency, including every Democrat, every Republican and independent candidates, to address these issues in a forthright manner and to do outreach and communicate with communities that are besieged by these problems. Although his events in Phoenix, Houston and Dallas, where he loudly condemned police brutality and racism were a start, Sanders owes it to pay attention to these activists and listen to the concerns of marginalized groups whose civil rights have historically been suppressed. Sanders does have a record of fighting on these issues, and it should be only natural for him to be able to comfortably address them before a diverse audience.

Here are 20 ways Sanders has stood up for civil and minority rights, starting in the early 1950s up to the present year.
1. Raising Money For Korean Orphans
2. Being Arrested For Desegregation
3. Marching In March On Washington
4. Calling For Full Gay Equality
5. Standing Up For Victims Of U.S. Imperialism In Latin America
6. Condemned And Opposed Welfare Reform and Dog Whistle Politics
7. Vocally Condemned and Opposed Death Penalty and Prisons His Entire Political Career
8. Voted Against Cutting Off Prisoners From Federal Education Funds
9. Took IMF To Task For Oppressing Developing World Workers
10. Achieved High Ratings From Leading Civil Rights Organizations
11. Voted Against the PATRIOT Act
12. Opposed Both Iraq Wars on Moral Grounds
13. Traveled to Costa Rica to Defend Exploited Workers
14. Endorsed Jesse Jackson, Spoke Up For Palestinians
15. Strongly Condemned Police Violence Over the Past Year
16. Embraced Immigrants When Hillary Clinton Refused To Talk To Them
17. Defended Voting Rights Against Voter Suppression Efforts
18. Fought Against Employment Discrimination
19. Called For End to War On Drugs, For-Profit Prisons and Migrant Detention Quotas
20. Put Out Detailed Plan to End Economic Crisis in Minority Communities

~snip~

But much of the criticism of Sanders seems more rooted in who he is — an old white guy from Vermont — than what he has done. If anything, the fact that he has done so much for civil and minority rights despite the fact that his constituency is not one that would naturally demand it speaks to his character and wide empathy that isn't shared by many politicians.
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/20-examples-bernie-sanders-powerful-record-civil-and-human-rights-1950s

[cantbeserious]

1. Appears That BLM Is Blind

eom

[99th_Monkey]

3. BLM's grief and rage is completely understandable and it's hugely important

for everyone to hear it, digest it, reflect on it, and act on it.

I'm confident that Bernie totally gets it, since his record cannot be
matched by either Hillary of O'Malley. Not even close.

I'm actually glad for what happened at NetRoots, because it's bringing
to light yet one more reason to support Bernie.

[DrBulldog]

16. Amen. BLM is acting stupid and confrontative.

And that achieves absolutely NOTHING for African-Americans.

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. Hey, I have an idea! Let's discuss Sanders' actual record on race and human rights. Anybody?

I would very much like to see some posters who have devoted hundreds of posts to explaining how out-of-touch Sanders is opine on his actual record.

#actualpositionsmatter

[SunSeeker]

19. OK. Sanders' vote enabling anti-latino Minuteman militias in 2006 was, at best, out of touch.

Like his pro gun votes (he voted against the Brady Bill and for the PLCAA giving gun manufacturers special immunity from suit), his 2006 vote for that vile GOP amendment to the Homeland Security Bill that defunded informing Mexico about America civilian border vigilantes (the racist Minuteman groups) is indefensible.

Even though the militia groups are involved in unsanctioned, armed activity along the Mexican-American border, the Republicans drafted language blocking the US government from notifying the Mexican authorities about potential dangers to their citizens living or traveling near the US-Mexico border. The amendment to the 2006 Homeland Security Appropriations bill reads:

“None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to provide a foreign government information relating to the activities of an organized volunteer civilian action group, operating in the State of California, Texas, New Mexico, or Arizona, unless required by international treaty.”

The Congressional Record shows the Dems were livid. Dem rep. Loretta Sanchez from California demanded a recorded vote, not a mere anonymous voice vote. Here's the Congressional Record link to Sanchez' comments and that amendment language:
https://www.congress.gov/amendment/109th-congress/house-amendment/971

The language targeted notifications of activity only in the states of California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona - all states on the Mexican border. The prohibition did not apply to the border states of Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, Maine or Sen. Sanders' home state, Vermont. But then again, these militias are not trying to keep out white Canadians. They are only concerned with keeping out latinos coming from our southern neighbor, Mexico.

Republicans in Congress were pandering to their base: the anti-immigrant racists and gun nuts, both of which were personified in the "Minuteman" groups, the members of which arm themselves and play illegitimate border patrol. Yet Bernie voted YES. Thanks to Loretta Sanchez, here's the link to the recorded vote: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll224.xml

This amendment that Sanders voted for protected and legitimized these vigilante border militia groups, allowing them to openly talk about gunning down latinos they suspect of being undocumented immigrants. Their terror campaign against latinos is no idle threat. One Minuteman militia group murdered a latino father and his young daughter (who were American citizens), in 2009. Nine-year-old Brisenia Flores begged for her life as a Minuteman militia member shot her dead. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/25/nation/la-na-minutemen-murder-20110126

Yes, actual positions matter. And Sanders' position voting for that amendment is indefensible.

[freshwest]

25. Wow, I didn't know about that. It was at the same time GOP candidates called for shooting Mexicans

from helicopters 'like will pigs' and one stood with those same weirdos at the border (the fake plumber) saying he was ready to shoot them there. I cannot fathom why Sanders would vote for this, unless it was a rider that could not be taken out of the bill.

The gun manufacturer liability protection I'd written off to some kind of lawyer speak that he was objecting to it.

The vote against the Brady Bill I chalked up to his thinking the bill would pass anyway, but pandering to hunters in his state.

Just like the defense for the MIC corporate welfare F-35 he made, then making drones. It was about pork barrel spending. The trillions spent on it advantaged some in Vermont; but it steals from college tuition plans and other social programs he says he supports. I believe he does support them, but that is not the way to get them funded.

It makes him in action, despite words, a typical politician. I think he's more of a hawk than people think he is. So that charge should be dropped from the list of complaints about others being hawkish or corporate, including the 'bankster' charges. Same rule applies to all of them.

He put his foot in his mouth on guns and black people in one of the interviews I saw posted her on DU. I don't recall the name of the interviewer, I don't watch tv and only the occasional video from youtube here. So all of that is less important to me.

I'll go to the link for the full story is on your post. Thanks.

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. I'm kicking this all day long. For all the people concerned with more than hash tag activism.

[Comrade Grumpy]

5. Kicking. Apparently no one cares about actual stances on actual issues.

[JaneyVee]

6. Perhaps because its a duplicate thread.

[99th_Monkey]

7. You're right, it got posted in the middle of the night 2:30AM

I'm on DU quite a bit, and totally missed it, as did lots of other folks, so I'm leaving it up.

Thanks though for letting me know.

[Comrade Grumpy]

8. I think Sanders has the best record on race of any of the Democratic candidates.

It's long and it's good.

[sabrina 1]

15. Yes, he does. I don't know why anyone is bothering with this obvious talking point.

[seveneyes]

9. Thank you! Bernie has walked the talk

There is a lot of good in Bernie and he has improved with time.

[Comrade Grumpy]

10. Funny, no one wants to discuss his actual record. n/t

[Betty Karlson]

13. Because the BLM anger is not over a record.

see my earlier reply in this thread.

[George II]

11. Anybody can put together a laundry list of accomplishments, I'm sure a Clinton....

....supporter could put together a similar list five times that one.

Two big questions for Senator (then Representative) Sanders:

What was your rationale for voting with Republicans against the Brady Bill?

The vote was:

YEA - 238 - 184 Democrats, 54 Republicans
NAY - 189 - 69 Democrats, 119 Republicans, 1 Independent (Sanders)

What was your rationale for voting with Republicans in favor of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act?

The vote was:

YEA 283 223 Republicans, 59 Democrats, 1 Independent (Sanders)
NAY 144 4 Republicans, 140 Democrats, 0 Independent

[George II]

24. Anyone want to take a stab at his rationale behind these two votes?

[Betty Karlson]

12. PLEASE UNDERSTAND

The BLM anger is not over what he has done. It's over what still needs to be done.

This is not a time to tout records, but to show targeted policy points.

[99th_Monkey]

23. Well said. I mostly agree with you

yet I don't feel Bernie's decades-long stellar record on race and civil rights is irrelevant, far from it.

But I do agree that it's not enough to just say that, and pretend like that is the end-all and be-all
on civil rights and race relations; and it is especially important for Bernie to make very very clear
how angry he is too, that Blacks can't walk down the street without fear of getting gunned down
for no reason by racist killer-cops.

And btw, he had been doing just that on the campaign trail, and not just since the NN/BLM event.

[greenman3610]

14. Too Late. BLM has decided for you that

...there's not a dime's worth of difference between Bernie Sanders, (or Martin O'Malley) and Donald Trump.

[kwassa]

22. No.

[DrBulldog]

17. Send this list direct to BLM . . .

. . . and maybe they will discover for the FIRST time who Bernie Sanders really is.

[d_legendary1]

20. I think its more about what Bernie

has done for them lately. According to some posters here they don't care about who he walked with and don't need to be reminded about MLK. Its more about how civil rights has devolved which places the AA community at risk for the institutionalized racism they face everyday. As one of the Reverends who spoke at the Sandra Bland rally stated (I'm paraphrasing here), "I fear the police a lot more than I fear ISIS."

[kenfrequed]

18. I sympathize with both BLM and the Sanders campaign

I have sympathy for their rage and the mainstream media both ignoring, misrepresenting, and even lying about their activism. Given that I think everyone should understand their desire to get camera time whenever they can. I don't think anyone can say they are wrong in what they are trying to accomplish.


I also know that Sanders supporters have been cosntantly harrassed by the supporters of other candidates with accusations of "optics" or whatever for his early campaign events in New England. There was an active effort to create spin on these things by those supporters and it resulted in a lot of Bernie supporters on the internet getting into seige mode (which helps no one.)

Bernie Sanders agrees with BLM and has stood up against police brutality early and often. He was one of the first white politicians to stand up against that brutality in Ferguson where we waited an additional ten days for the Hillary campaign to speak up to the matter after he did so. We should stand up in support of BLM every chance we get!

#BlackLivesMatter should occur right next to #BernieSanders every chance we get.

[WillyT]

21. HUGE K & R !!! - THANK YOU !!!

[Karmadillo]

26. kick