African American
In reply to the discussion: Why did Sanders wait until we have a black president to cast blame and start his "revolution"? [View all]ismnotwasm
(41,999 posts)My politics are feminist politics and feminist politics address both social and economic justice from a number of angles. On a personal level, my political passions are to end destructive "isms"--racism, sexism, ect--not to pretend they no longer exist when convenient or or trot them out when they are, but find a pathway to END sexism, to END racism.
To move to actually improve society is a complex and layered set of tasks and interventions, some of which have been identified and out of those, many that have been allowed to wallow. (affirmative action and reparations and the ERA for instance) I think of Martin O'Malley, and his thorough plan to address criminal justice reform--superior by far to Hillary's or Sanders' plans and I know that some, at least, of the white, male elite of good heart are serious about pathways that actually work. Pathways that will revise power structures, giving up long held power and finding a sort of Political equanimity in doing so.
Power. That's my conclusion-- in order to move forward, Whites must give up power. Males must give up power. There is no way around this, no equivocating. While the pathways may be many and complex, the actual end result is clear to me.
Sanders seems to promise--and I say seems to, because while I have come to intensely dislike the man, there is no denying that millions of people adore him and believe in him-- a pathway that does NOT include a way forward to give up any power, merely simplistic economic message that promises an uneven and unworkable economic pathway to some sort of Unidentified equality at some Non-specified point in the future. I think these promises resonates with far too many people for the wrong reasons and, quite frankly that breaks my heart.
He didn't start a "revolution" until he could, revolutions by nature are adversarial. I get that. One of my other problems with Sanders is that he, his campaign and his supporters, have been given clue after clue after clue, and still didn't pick one up when it comes to how complex social justice really is. If he had, I believe he would have been the next POTUS. Too late now.