Good of you to whitesplain that.
But you are also a stated immigrant. I do not know how long have been here, but are you absolutely comfortable in deriding, in particular, older black Americans for their choices? I think it's pretty shitty to attack them for trusting in a man like Jim Clyburn, though you seem more than willing to believe that is the ONLY reason they chose to vote as they have, not that it was merely a factor.
As for white politicians getting black votes for years without giving anything in return, your man Bernie doesn't look very good at all. HIs own constituents had this to say.
Vermont’s Black Leaders: We Were ‘Invisible’ to Bernie Sanders
As recently as November, he has not impressed with his answers regarding dwb and what one should do when pulled over by an officer. He has not fared well when faced with BLM activists, either.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BERNIE SANDERS AND BLACK VOTERS | AFROPUNK
Also, that 1994 Crime Bill? Bernie signed it. He comes with an incredibly older, white male view of the world and while believing that a "rising tide lifts all boats" may be laudable, it is historically inaccurate. White people have always found a way to make sure that black folks weren't able to profit from such programs. He should know that. He comes with an incredibly older, white male view of the world. Many things are just plain invisible to him or he chooses to not see.
And this is an example of what's wrong with the party. Instead of having a discussion on the substance of what I was talking about, whether I was right or wrong or had any merit in my point of view, this person tried to discredit me for what she perceived was my identity. And now Jolene is using my status as an immigrant to try to invalidate my position, instead of addressing Antonio Moore's positions head on. This is partly why we can't have honest conversations about the status of black people in this country.
The focus on Bernie Bros was a distraction to make Sanders seem like he wasn't a real advocate for women, and that he's somehow racist as Beebo went and insinuated. Biden has a long history of innate racist views, no vision, and he gets a pass because he's a party insider. This identity politics, weaponizing race and sex and party to shut down the discussion of class, is why black people don't get any meaningful economic policy. LGBTQ+ have specific policy goals and a lot of them have been achieved (work isn't done yet). Latinos have people actively advocating on immigration issues, although those are not their only issues. Feminists are out there for women's bodily autonomy and equal pay. Where's the Democratic Party's platform to help black people?
Bernie was excoriated because his
rhetoric wasn't good enough even when he shared and advocated those values for 40+ years, when his policies would have done the meaningful work of putting more money and power in people's hands. I understand that Bernie's view of class is apparently singular, and his policies still have a point even if it's not totally correct.
Antonio Moore is right that Bernie needed to come with a black agenda. A SPECIFIC black agenda
on top of his policies that will overwhelmingly help a lot of black people and specifically black WOMEN. For all the failures of his rhetoric, the math still dictates that his
policies would still do more to help black people because of their class than anyone else. Going to
ados101.com, you would see that Bernie's policies would address somewhere around half of those demands for a black agenda.
That crime bill? He explained why he signed it, even though he had deep misgivings about the racial profiling that he expected. It had the Violence Against Women Act in it and the assault weapons ban. If he didn't, you'd weaponize it to say he's sexist and was pro-gun. He can't win.
Liberals love to throw around words like "privilege" but they're apparently fine with the system of token representation, that having a few people in the black community who become millionaires or upper middle class is okay. The Joy Reids of the world, who make more than double Bernie Sanders' wealth every year for being on TV, the black talking heads who happily go on tv to induce more white guilt out of the liberal class. Andrew Yang was right when he said that having disposable income is what gives people a voice. Who actually came with policies to meaningfully do that? Bernie, Warren, Yang, Williamson. Dinky tax credits for people who already have some wealth wasn't going to cut it. Baby bonds was an interesting idea, but it is not enough.
I will call a spade a spade. Blacks don't have any good advocates inside their party home. That's my opinion, I am entitled to it.
www.theroot.com
