Bernie Sanders and race

I know many members here support Bernie Sanders. And no, I'm not one of them. However, he does seem to be more "truthful" when it comes to his history and views. Like his times in the Civil Rights movement. Which comes to something I want to talk about.

Recently in the last Democratic debate, Sanders said this about white people: "If you're white, you don't know what it's like to live in a ghetto. you don't know what it's like to be poor." For anyone who lives in reality we can see this is 100% incorrect. Numerous white people have, and continue, to live in ghettos and are poor. I know that Sanders was doing whatever he can to get non-white support; which seems to be a challenge for his presidential campaign. Still this gaffe should cost him big because I wish these politicians would stop shaming one group, while trying to reign in support from others.

News article

a reply to: Teddy916

I support Bernie, but I also thought this statement was pandering for the black vote. They all make statements to gain votes. It's the nature of politics. It could have been worded differently, but it is what it is. Many candidates probably wish they didn't say the thing they said during a debate. It's not scripted, so I'm not going to condemn the guy on a statement I don't agree with. Let's be real, I don't think every voter agrees with 100% of what their candidate believes or what they say.

a reply to: WeRpeons

Yes, I agree. Though i wish more people would call him out on it. I know the MSNBC article I shared discusses just that but I feel it doesn't clear up the issue.

Imagine if Trump had said this about Jewish folks. The sanctimony of the left knows no bounds. That said, its not too dissimilar from how Trump characterized illegal mexican immigrants which was also rather deplorable.

I vote on policy positions though, not stuff like this.

a reply to: Teddy916

You are 100% right. I have been to more than on ghetto in my life, and I've seen White people in every one of them (even in the Black dominant or Mexican dominant neighborhoods). I know more than 100 White people making less than 11k per year. I know many white people in way worse poverty than Bernie or anyone that surrounds him.

All I can say is he had better get a grip on reality if he thinks people are going to vote for him! AMERICA'S poverty stricken are not specific to any skin color or colors. There are people of every race that are stricken by poverty in AMERICA.

The majority of homeless people in my city are White. Native Americans or Indians come in 2nd place. 3rd place goes to the Mexicans. 4th place Black people. in homeless per capita

In every city the statistics differ, but on this issue-Bernie is in anther universe!

The question was, what racial blind spots do you have. He's referring to himself, not all white people. Obviously, there are white people whom are homeless, nevertheless living in poverty or the ghettos. That's his blind spot because he didn't experience it.

Warning! There is language in this video if you have children

Spice 1 even covered it in this music video:

Starting at 3:46 listen to this-the lyrics go like this:

Welcome to the Ghetto - Where you can straight get played out like a cello,
the Man got the projects boarded up And the whites and blacks are sorted up.

Spice 1 knew all those years ago that there were poor white people, so I think Bernie needs to get his data updated.

Spice 1 - Welcome to the Ghetto:

Can America take another president that foments racial division and that ridiculous white privilege fairytale? Well its him or Hilary,i honestly don't know what more to say.There's really no upside to this situation.

I've supported Sen. Sanders for quite some time.

However, that statement has given me pause. Yes, I think it was an attempt at garnering more support from the minority community, especially considering the difference between himself and Clinton in that arena.


At best it shows weakness in regards to standing up and saying things people don't want to hear. At worst it's complete naivety towards how pervasive poverty really is. I tend to think it's more of the former rather than the latter.

And this brings up the main point of contention I've had towards the left in the U.S. Weakness.... The lack of willingness to stand up to anyone unless there's a clear and measurable line of support from the public. They're afraid to stand up to the right contingent in this country, and they're afraid to stand up to the extreme SJW types that are starting to crop up in their own sociopolitical ideology.

Say what you want about Conservatives, but at least they bring their gloves everyday. Maybe they won't fight the extremists in their own ideology, but at least they'll fight the left tooth and nail. I can't stand conservatives, but I admire their willingness to fight when they see fit.

a reply to: Teddy916

Sanders said this about white people: "If you're white, you don't know what it's like to live in a ghetto. you don't know what it's like to be poor."

Sanders was repeating what a BLM member said to him. So before judging him for what he said find out why he said it and where it came from.

originally posted by: buster2010
a reply to: Teddy916

Sanders said this about white people: "If you're white, you don't know what it's like to live in a ghetto. you don't know what it's like to be poor."

Sanders was repeating what a BLM member said to him. So before judging him for what he said find out why he said it and where it came from.

So in other words, you're saying that Bernie just parrots what he hears? That's not much better.

originally posted by: Wardaddy454

originally posted by: buster2010
a reply to: Teddy916

Sanders said this about white people: "If you're white, you don't know what it's like to live in a ghetto. you don't know what it's like to be poor."

Sanders was repeating what a BLM member said to him. So before judging him for what he said find out why he said it and where it came from.

So in other words, you're saying that Bernie just parrots what he hears? That's not much better.

No he was responding to a question.

a reply to: buster2010

Yeah, repeating how rich whitey is bad because BLM activists told him so. I bet he got their votes after that.

originally posted by: buster2010

originally posted by: Wardaddy454

originally posted by: buster2010
a reply to: Teddy916

Sanders said this about white people: "If you're white, you don't know what it's like to live in a ghetto. you don't know what it's like to be poor."

Sanders was repeating what a BLM member said to him. So before judging him for what he said find out why he said it and where it came from.

So in other words, you're saying that Bernie just parrots what he hears? That's not much better.

No he was responding to a question.

OK..So was he not repeating what a BLM member said to him, when making the statement in the debate? If yes, then he was pandering.

If Bernie sticks to pandering to blacks he will definitely lose because Hillary already did it. It became the battle of who can give away more stuff to blacks and at the same time making white people look like they should be embarrassed for being white. Those two overly politically correct humans are a joke.

originally posted by: Raxoxane
Can America take another president that foments racial division and that ridiculous white privilege fairytale? Well its him or Hilary,i honestly don't know what more to say.There's really no upside to this situation.

No. Honestly we can't. It will spark a war if it keeps up.

People are tired of being told how much better they have it than blacks, tired of being told we owe men something when we never did anything to them, tired of policies created to raise one group above another, rather than policies that promote actual equality.

And the more this happens, the angrier one group gets at the other group for their very real privilege, while being told they have no privilege - even though we can see it with our eyes. It's pitting us against each other, and it will eventually start a civil war.

a reply to: Teddy916

Of course he was pandering.
On the radio this morning, they mentioned that the number of black people voting for Bernie is essentially zero.
He needs that group if he wants to beat Hillary... But he is still laboring under the idea that the DNC would allow that to happen.

The Democrats have me wondering. The DNC is pushing Hillary, but we see some jumping ship. Have they read the tea leaves and suspect that Hillary will be indicted?
I'll just sit back and watch.
Nothing I can do about it anyway.

a reply to: buster2010

All that has been proven wrong.

He attempted to make an excuse, but that failed also.

Unless of course you can find video of the "question" from somebody else.



All he had to do was simply apologize and take the lesser damage.

FFS. How many threads are we going to do this in? Someone posts two lines of a large statement with no context and has the nuts to suggest Bernie Sanders thinks white people don't know what it means to be poor? The very suggestion shows almost 100% ignorance of any information about him! Are you going to post the entire remark or again is that going to be up to me?

a reply to: xuenchen

Really? So if it's been proven wrong you can certainly show that here.