2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Very intersting opinion piece by a Black man on the Sanders campaign [View all]hellofromreddit
(1,182 posts)Point-by-point:
1. I'm glad to hear that, but you're exceptional. A video like that would be used to crucify any politician in the public eye.
2. The photos aren't the point. During the civil rights era, white people in Sanders' position were pressured to just go with the flow and treat black people like dirt. Sanders demonstrated that in the face of that kind of pressure he has the morality and follow-through to tell people around him that they're wrong. Going so far as getting arrested. The photos are simply proof of that.
Sanders hasn't been parading around those photos for political gain all these years, though he certainly could have, so I find it hard to believe that his history could be fairly summed up as "protest photos."
And they're consistent with his behavior over the years--he opposed the Iraq war when nearly everyone was shouting "traitor" at him. Turns out he was right. He opposed DOMA when everyone was shouting at him. Turns out he was right. And he has been making noise about income inequality since he's been in the public eye despite people mocking him and calling him a kook--and today everyone's talking about the problems posed by income inequality--turns out he was right.
So diminishing another person's clear morality as "took a few pictures with civil rights leaders" is wildly dishonest.
3. I have no idea what the issue here is either, but when people want to criticize Sanders on race, his residency gets trotted out every time, including in the piece you linked.
4. Cancer registries, low income energy assistance, extensive effort to repair the VA, founding member of the congressional progressive caucus, etc.
I realize it's an opinion piece, but it's also repeating a wide swath of falsehoods. Wrapping those up in an opinion piece doesn't grant a pass--it's still very dishonest.