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Home > 20 Examples of Bernie Sanders' Powerful Record on Civil and Human
Rights Since the 1950s
________________________________________
20 Examples of Bernie Sanders' Powerful Record on Civil and Human Rights
Since the 1950s
By Zaid Jilani [1] / AlterNet [2]
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 [3] 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: International solidarity was an unusual
concept for any American to have in the 1950s, let alone a high school
student. But one of Sanders' first campaigns was to run for class president
at James Madison High School in New York City. His platform was based around
raising scholarship funds for Korean war orphans. Although he lost, the
person who did win the campaign decided to endorse Sanders' campaign, and
scholarships were created [4].
2. Being Arrested For Desegregation: As a student at the University of
Chicago, Sanders was active in both the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE)
and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In 1962, he was
arrested [4] for protesting segregation in public schools in Chicago; the
police came to call him an outside agitator, as he went around putting up
flyers around the city detailing police brutality.
3. Marching In March On Washington:Sanders joined the mega-rally called by
the leaders of the civil rights movement, a formative event of his youth.
4. Calling For Full Gay Equality: 40 years ago, Sanders started his
political life by running with a radical third party in Vermont called the
Liberty Union Party. As a part of the platform, he called for abolishing all
laws [5] related to discrimination against homosexuality.
5. Standing Up For Victims Of U.S. Imperialism In Latin America: While mayor
of Burlington, Vermont, Sanders formally protested the Reagan government's
policy of sending arms to Central America to repress left-wing movements. In
1985, he traveled to Nicaragua to condemn the war on people there. He writes
[6] about it in his book Outsider In The House: "The trip to Nicaragua was a
profoundly emotional experience....I was introduced to a crowd of hundreds
of thousands who gathered for the anniversary celebration. I will never
forget that in the front row of the huge crowd were dozens and dozens of
amputees in wheelchairs - young soldiers, many of them in their teens, who
had lost their legs in a war foisted on them and financed by the U.S.
government."
6. Condemned And Opposed Welfare Reform and Dog Whistle Politics:While
President Bill Clinton and most Democrats in Congress supported so-called
welfare reform politics, Sanders not only voted against this policy change,
but wrote eloquently [7] against the dog whistle politics used to sell it,
saying, "The crown jewel of the Republican agenda is their so-called welfare
reform proposal. The bill, which combines an assault on the poor, women and
children, minorities, and immigrants is the grand slam of scapegoating
legislation, and appeals to the frustrations and ignorance of the American
people along a wide spectrum of prejudices."
7. Vocally Condemned and Opposed Death Penalty and Prisons His Entire
Political Career: Sanders has long been a critic of "tough on crime"
policies. Here he is in 1991 condemning [8] a crime bill for promoting
"state murder" through expansion of the death penalty:
"My friends, we have the highest percentage of people in jail per capita of
any nation on earth....What do we have to do, put half the country behind
bars? Mistser Speaker, instead of talking about punishment and vengeance,
let us talk about the real issue. How do we get to the root causes of crime?
How do we stop crime? . I've got a problem with a president and Congress
that allows five million people to go hungry, two million people to sleep
out on the street, cities to become breeding grounds for drugs and violence.
And they say we're getting tough on crime. If you want to get tough on
crime, let's deal with the causes of crime. Let's demand that every man,
woman, and child in this country have a decent opportunity and a decent
standard of living. Let's not keep putting more people into jail and
disproportionately punishing blacks."
He also voted for an amendment in the crime bill to eliminate the death
penalty with life imprisonment.
8. Voted Against Cutting Off Prisoners From Federal Education Funds: In the
1990s, there was a successful effort [9] to end the Pell Grant program for
prisoners, which was one of the most effective ways to reduce recidivism.
Only a handful of members of Congress voted against the legislation, and
almost all of them were members of the Black Caucus. Sanders was one of the
few white members who opposed this effort. It passed by 351 to 39 [8]. Of
those in the House who opposed that vote, few are still serving; Reps. John
Lewis, Jose Serrano, Charlie Rangel, and Bernie Sanders stood together at
that time and continue to serve today.
9. Took IMF To Task For Oppressing Developing World Workers: In a 1998
committee hearing, Sanders [10] took Clinton administration official Robert
Rubin to task for not enforcing a provision to protect the rights of workers
in Indonesia. "Tell the world now that no more IMF money goes to that
country, goes to [dictator] Suharto!" he thundered to Rubin, who later went
on to be the chief architect of policies [11] that led us to the Great
Recession. "The IMF historically does not have a good record in terms of the
poor people of various countries," he noted, standing up for the poorest
black and brown people on the planet, tackling an institution few in
Congress dare to criticize.
10. Achieved High Ratings From Leading Civil Rights Organizations: A
frequent critique of Sanders is that he is from a very white state. While
this is true, he certainly has not ignored issues that matter to people of
color. In 2002, he achieved a 93 percent rating [12] from the ACLU and a 97%
rating by the NAACP in 2006.
11. Voted Against the PATRIOT Act: The USA PATRIOT Act was passed [13] in a
98-2 vote in the Senate and a 357-66 vote in the House. Sanders voted
against it, and has voted against renewing it every single time. The law has
been used to violate the rights of Arab and Muslim Americans, but few know
how extensively it has been used in the drug war; from 2009 to 2010, the law
was invoked [14] for 3,034 narcotics cases and only 37 terrorism cases.
12. Opposed Both Iraq Wars on Moral Grounds: Sanders was opposed to U.S.
involvement in both Iraq wars. While many simply talked about the war in
terms of the impact it would have on the United States, Sanders went further
[15], saying that the "death and destruction caused" would "not be forgotten
by the poor people of the Third World."
13. Traveled to Costa Rica to Defend Exploited Workers:Sanders traveled to
Costa Rica [16] to help organize workers opposing the Central American Free
Trade Agreement (CAFTA). While many critics of trade agreements do so on the
grounds that Americans deserve jobs that could be lost to foreign countries,
Sanders instead practices a form of solidarity politics, saying that workers
in both countries are being exploited by corporations and so we must
organize workers in both countries.
14. Endorsed Jesse Jackson, Spoke Up For Palestinians: In 1988, Jesse
Jackson was the first competitive black candidate for the Democratic
nomination for the presidency. He came under fierce attack for his advocacy
of Palestinian statehood. Sanders came to his aid, organizing Vermonters and
winning the state for Jackson. Sanders was asked about Jackson's comments on
Palestine and defended him, saying that the Israeli assault on Palestinians
was "reprehensible [17]."
15. Strongly Condemned Police Violence Over the Past Year: One criticism of
Sanders is that he avoids talking about police violence in favor of talking
about the economy. While the economy forms the bulk of his pitch, he has
repeatedly condemned police violence during the duration of the Black Lives
Matter movement. Here he is in mid-August 2014 [18], before frontrunner
Clinton ever spoke about the issue. Here [19] (8/20/14) are [19] (8/24/14) a
[20] (8/18/14) few [21] (6/6/2015) more [22] (4/30/2015) examples [23]
(6/2015).
16. Embraced Immigrants When Hillary Clinton Refused To Talk To Them: In
2014, young immigration activists repeatedly tried to talk to Democratic
frontrunner Hillary Clinton to ask her about executive action. While Clinton
did not talk to them [24], Bernie Sanders was not only willing to talk [25],
but agreed with their call for executive action.
17. Defended Voting Rights Against Voter Suppression Efforts: Sanders earned
the endorsement [26] of radical rapper Killer Mike by his leadership on
defending the Voter Rights Act and calling for expanding voting rights.
18. Fought Against Employment Discrimination: Sanders was a strong supporter
of legislation [27] to end workplace discrimination against LGBT Americans.
19. Called For End to War On Drugs, For-Profit Prisons and Migrant Detention
Quotas:Sanders supports [28] decriminalizing marijuna, and believes the war
on drugs to be a failure. Additionally, he has vowed [29] to end for-profit
prisons and immigrant detention quotas.
20. Put Out Detailed Plan to End Economic Crisis in Minority Communities:
Many argue that Sanders views the issue of racial justice in too myopic a
fashion by focusing on the economy. But polling of both Latinos and African
Americans shows that jobs and the economy is either their top concern or
tied for their top concern. Gallup polling shows that 13 percent of
Hispanics say immigration is their top concern; 47 percent say [30] the
economy is. Meanwhile, among black Americans, 13 percent say "race
relations" is their top concern, tied with "unemployment/jobs," an
additional 10 percentage points go to the "economy in general." Combined,
economic concerns make up 23 percentage points while race relations compose
13 percent. If you add in healthcare, at 6 percent, another major Sanders
theme, it gets you up to 29 percent. Add in poverty at 7 percent and
education at 5 percent and you're up to 41 percent of African Americans
naming Bernie Sanders' top issues as their top issues.
This validates Sanders' strategy of looking to the economy as the top
concern of minority communities. He has put out a detailed strategy to
target unemployment across America and particularly to attack Hispanic and
black youth unemployment, which he introduced in August 2014 [19], long
before he announced for president.
None of this is to say that the Sanders campaign doesn't need to do more
outreach to a broad array of people; the rallies in Phoenix, Houston and
Dallas [31] were a start, as they featured heavy presence of Latino and
African Americans. The campaign is reportedly set to meet with the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference next week, and will be campaigning heavily
in the Southeast starting next month, with an event in New Orleans at the
tail end of this month.
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.
Zaid Jilani is an AlterNet staff writer. Follow @zaidjilani [32] on Twitter.
Share on Facebook Share
Share on Twitter Tweet
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [33]
[34]
________________________________________
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/20-examples-bernie-sanders-powerful-re
cord-civil-and-human-rights-1950s
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/zaid-jilani-0
[2] http://alternet.org
[3]
https://www.facebook.com/PeopleForBernie/videos/1686572771562930/?__mref=mes
sage_bubble
[4] http://time.com/3896500/bernie-sanders-vermont-campaign-radical/
[5]
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/bernie-sanders-was-full-gay-equality
-40-years-ago
[6]
https://books.google.com/books?id=F3OIZHfRhfgC&printsec=frontcover&d
q=editions:5ajP1L6ccdIC&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCIQuwUwAGoVChMIgcDM2Kjo
xgIVy5QNCh3qUQOB#v=onepage&q=nicaragua&f=false
[7]
https://books.google.com/books?id=F3OIZHfRhfgC&printsec=frontcover&d
q=editions:5ajP1L6ccdIC&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCIQuwUwAGoVChMIgcDM2Kjo
xgIVy5QNCh3qUQOB#v=snippet&q=black&f=false
[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZJ7f-3XGB4&feature=youtu.be
[9]
http://www.alternet.org/education/how-congress-killed-one-few-lifelines-form
er-prisoners-and-why-its-time-bring-it-back
[10] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQQ6USZJWsM
[11] http://www.progressive.org/node/124962
[12] http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/bernie_sanders.htm
[13] http://educate-yourself.org/cn/patriotact20012006senatevote.shtml
[14]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/10/29/surprise-controve
rsial-patriot-act-power-now-overwhelmingly-used-in-drug-investigations/
[15]
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/bernie-sanders-predicted-invading-
iraq-would-cause-more-wars-years-come-1991-watch
[16] http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/2007/09/sanders-and-mic.html
[17]
http://www.alternet.org/1988-bernie-sanders-condemned-israeli-attacks-palest
inians-reprehensible
[18]
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/nyt-learning-from-the
-ferguson-tragedy
[19]
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/citing-crisis-in-fergu
son-sanders-to-propose-youth-jobs-bill
[20] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U51lixGY7Nw
[21] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22qFWTsnfh4
[22] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbxobSrrC68
[23] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpgJYNaIeqo
[24]
http://inconvenienttruthsabouthillary.tumblr.com/post/101446326198/video-hil
lary-clinton-refuses-to-talk-to-dreamers
[25]
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/217697-dreamers-praise-sanders-over-clin
ton-after-confronting-both-in-iowa
[26] http://inthesetimes.com/article/18126/killer-mike-bernie-sanders
[27]
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-passes-employme
nt-non-discrimination-act
[28]
http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/19/democratic-presidential-candidate-bernie-s
anders-supports-decriminalizing-marijuana/
[29]
http://www.alternet.org/bernie-sanders-intends-strike-heart-prison-industria
l-complex
[30]
http://www.gallup.com/poll/176180/hispanics-name-immigration-top-problem.asp
x
[31]
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/bernie-sanders-takes-his-populism-red-
states-and-draws-huge-crowd
[32] https://twitter.com/zaidjilani
[33] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on 20 Examples of Bernie
Sanders' Powerful Record on Civil and Human Rights Since the 1950s
[34] http://www.alternet.org/
[35] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > 20 Examples of Bernie Sanders' Powerful Record on Civil and Human
Rights Since the 1950s
20 Examples of Bernie Sanders' Powerful Record on Civil and Human Rights
Since the 1950s
By Zaid Jilani [1] / AlterNet [2]
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 [3] 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: International solidarity was an unusual
concept for any American to have in the 1950s, let alone a high school
student. But one of Sanders' first campaigns was to run for class president
at James Madison High School in New York City. His platform was based around
raising scholarship funds for Korean war orphans. Although he lost, the
person who did win the campaign decided to endorse Sanders' campaign, and
scholarships were created [4].
2. Being Arrested For Desegregation: As a student at the University of
Chicago, Sanders was active in both the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE)
and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In 1962, he was
arrested [4] for protesting segregation in public schools in Chicago; the
police came to call him an outside agitator, as he went around putting up
flyers around the city detailing police brutality.
3. Marching In March On Washington:Sanders joined the mega-rally called by
the leaders of the civil rights movement, a formative event of his youth.
4. Calling For Full Gay Equality: 40 years ago, Sanders started his
political life by running with a radical third party in Vermont called the
Liberty Union Party. As a part of the platform, he called for abolishing all
laws [5] related to discrimination against homosexuality.
5. Standing Up For Victims Of U.S. Imperialism In Latin America: While mayor
of Burlington, Vermont, Sanders formally protested the Reagan government's
policy of sending arms to Central America to repress left-wing movements. In
1985, he traveled to Nicaragua to condemn the war on people there. He writes
[6] about it in his book Outsider In The House: "The trip to Nicaragua was a
profoundly emotional experience....I was introduced to a crowd of hundreds
of thousands who gathered for the anniversary celebration. I will never
forget that in the front row of the huge crowd were dozens and dozens of
amputees in wheelchairs - young soldiers, many of them in their teens, who
had lost their legs in a war foisted on them and financed by the U.S.
government."
6. Condemned And Opposed Welfare Reform and Dog Whistle Politics:While
President Bill Clinton and most Democrats in Congress supported so-called
welfare reform politics, Sanders not only voted against this policy change,
but wrote eloquently [7] against the dog whistle politics used to sell it,
saying, "The crown jewel of the Republican agenda is their so-called welfare
reform proposal. The bill, which combines an assault on the poor, women and
children, minorities, and immigrants is the grand slam of scapegoating
legislation, and appeals to the frustrations and ignorance of the American
people along a wide spectrum of prejudices."
7. Vocally Condemned and Opposed Death Penalty and Prisons His Entire
Political Career: Sanders has long been a critic of "tough on crime"
policies. Here he is in 1991 condemning [8] a crime bill for promoting
"state murder" through expansion of the death penalty:
"My friends, we have the highest percentage of people in jail per capita of
any nation on earth....What do we have to do, put half the country behind
bars? Mistser Speaker, instead of talking about punishment and vengeance,
let us talk about the real issue. How do we get to the root causes of crime?
How do we stop crime? . I've got a problem with a president and Congress
that allows five million people to go hungry, two million people to sleep
out on the street, cities to become breeding grounds for drugs and violence.
And they say we're getting tough on crime. If you want to get tough on
crime, let's deal with the causes of crime. Let's demand that every man,
woman, and child in this country have a decent opportunity and a decent
standard of living. Let's not keep putting more people into jail and
disproportionately punishing blacks."
He also voted for an amendment in the crime bill to eliminate the death
penalty with life imprisonment.
8. Voted Against Cutting Off Prisoners From Federal Education Funds: In the
1990s, there was a successful effort [9] to end the Pell Grant program for
prisoners, which was one of the most effective ways to reduce recidivism.
Only a handful of members of Congress voted against the legislation, and
almost all of them were members of the Black Caucus. Sanders was one of the
few white members who opposed this effort. It passed by 351 to 39 [8]. Of
those in the House who opposed that vote, few are still serving; Reps. John
Lewis, Jose Serrano, Charlie Rangel, and Bernie Sanders stood together at
that time and continue to serve today.
9. Took IMF To Task For Oppressing Developing World Workers: In a 1998
committee hearing, Sanders [10] took Clinton administration official Robert
Rubin to task for not enforcing a provision to protect the rights of workers
in Indonesia. "Tell the world now that no more IMF money goes to that
country, goes to [dictator] Suharto!" he thundered to Rubin, who later went
on to be the chief architect of policies [11] that led us to the Great
Recession. "The IMF historically does not have a good record in terms of the
poor people of various countries," he noted, standing up for the poorest
black and brown people on the planet, tackling an institution few in
Congress dare to criticize.
10. Achieved High Ratings From Leading Civil Rights Organizations: A
frequent critique of Sanders is that he is from a very white state. While
this is true, he certainly has not ignored issues that matter to people of
color. In 2002, he achieved a 93 percent rating [12] from the ACLU and a 97%
rating by the NAACP in 2006.
11. Voted Against the PATRIOT Act: The USA PATRIOT Act was passed [13] in a
98-2 vote in the Senate and a 357-66 vote in the House. Sanders voted
against it, and has voted against renewing it every single time. The law has
been used to violate the rights of Arab and Muslim Americans, but few know
how extensively it has been used in the drug war; from 2009 to 2010, the law
was invoked [14] for 3,034 narcotics cases and only 37 terrorism cases.
12. Opposed Both Iraq Wars on Moral Grounds: Sanders was opposed to U.S.
involvement in both Iraq wars. While many simply talked about the war in
terms of the impact it would have on the United States, Sanders went further
[15], saying that the "death and destruction caused" would "not be forgotten
by the poor people of the Third World."
13. Traveled to Costa Rica to Defend Exploited Workers:Sanders traveled to
Costa Rica [16] to help organize workers opposing the Central American Free
Trade Agreement (CAFTA). While many critics of trade agreements do so on the
grounds that Americans deserve jobs that could be lost to foreign countries,
Sanders instead practices a form of solidarity politics, saying that workers
in both countries are being exploited by corporations and so we must
organize workers in both countries.
14. Endorsed Jesse Jackson, Spoke Up For Palestinians: In 1988, Jesse
Jackson was the first competitive black candidate for the Democratic
nomination for the presidency. He came under fierce attack for his advocacy
of Palestinian statehood. Sanders came to his aid, organizing Vermonters and
winning the state for Jackson. Sanders was asked about Jackson's comments on
Palestine and defended him, saying that the Israeli assault on Palestinians
was "reprehensible [17]."
15. Strongly Condemned Police Violence Over the Past Year: One criticism of
Sanders is that he avoids talking about police violence in favor of talking
about the economy. While the economy forms the bulk of his pitch, he has
repeatedly condemned police violence during the duration of the Black Lives
Matter movement. Here he is in mid-August 2014 [18], before frontrunner
Clinton ever spoke about the issue. Here [19] (8/20/14) are [19] (8/24/14) a
[20] (8/18/14) few [21] (6/6/2015) more [22] (4/30/2015) examples [23]
(6/2015).
16. Embraced Immigrants When Hillary Clinton Refused To Talk To Them: In
2014, young immigration activists repeatedly tried to talk to Democratic
frontrunner Hillary Clinton to ask her about executive action. While Clinton
did not talk to them [24], Bernie Sanders was not only willing to talk [25],
but agreed with their call for executive action.
17. Defended Voting Rights Against Voter Suppression Efforts: Sanders earned
the endorsement [26] of radical rapper Killer Mike by his leadership on
defending the Voter Rights Act and calling for expanding voting rights.
18. Fought Against Employment Discrimination: Sanders was a strong supporter
of legislation [27] to end workplace discrimination against LGBT Americans.
19. Called For End to War On Drugs, For-Profit Prisons and Migrant Detention
Quotas:Sanders supports [28] decriminalizing marijuna, and believes the war
on drugs to be a failure. Additionally, he has vowed [29] to end for-profit
prisons and immigrant detention quotas.
20. Put Out Detailed Plan to End Economic Crisis in Minority Communities:
Many argue that Sanders views the issue of racial justice in too myopic a
fashion by focusing on the economy. But polling of both Latinos and African
Americans shows that jobs and the economy is either their top concern or
tied for their top concern. Gallup polling shows that 13 percent of
Hispanics say immigration is their top concern; 47 percent say [30] the
economy is. Meanwhile, among black Americans, 13 percent say "race
relations" is their top concern, tied with "unemployment/jobs," an
additional 10 percentage points go to the "economy in general." Combined,
economic concerns make up 23 percentage points while race relations compose
13 percent. If you add in healthcare, at 6 percent, another major Sanders
theme, it gets you up to 29 percent. Add in poverty at 7 percent and
education at 5 percent and you're up to 41 percent of African Americans
naming Bernie Sanders' top issues as their top issues.
This validates Sanders' strategy of looking to the economy as the top
concern of minority communities. He has put out a detailed strategy to
target unemployment across America and particularly to attack Hispanic and
black youth unemployment, which he introduced in August 2014 [19], long
before he announced for president.
None of this is to say that the Sanders campaign doesn't need to do more
outreach to a broad array of people; the rallies in Phoenix, Houston and
Dallas [31] were a start, as they featured heavy presence of Latino and
African Americans. The campaign is reportedly set to meet with the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference next week, and will be campaigning heavily
in the Southeast starting next month, with an event in New Orleans at the
tail end of this month.
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.
Zaid Jilani is an AlterNet staff writer. Follow @zaidjilani [32] on Twitter.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [33]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[34]
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/20-examples-bernie-sanders-powerful-re
cord-civil-and-human-rights-1950s
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/zaid-jilani-0
[2] http://alternet.org
[3]
https://www.facebook.com/PeopleForBernie/videos/1686572771562930/?__mref=mes
sage_bubble
[4] http://time.com/3896500/bernie-sanders-vermont-campaign-radical/
[5]
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/bernie-sanders-was-full-gay-equality
-40-years-ago
[6]
https://books.google.com/books?id=F3OIZHfRhfgC&printsec=frontcover&d
q=editions:5ajP1L6ccdIC&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCIQuwUwAGoVChMIgcDM2Kjo
xgIVy5QNCh3qUQOB#v=onepage&q=nicaragua&f=false
[7]
https://books.google.com/books?id=F3OIZHfRhfgC&printsec=frontcover&d
q=editions:5ajP1L6ccdIC&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCIQuwUwAGoVChMIgcDM2Kjo
xgIVy5QNCh3qUQOB#v=snippet&q=black&f=false
[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZJ7f-3XGB4&feature=youtu.be
[9]
http://www.alternet.org/education/how-congress-killed-one-few-lifelines-form
er-prisoners-and-why-its-time-bring-it-back
[10] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQQ6USZJWsM
[11] http://www.progressive.org/node/124962
[12] http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/bernie_sanders.htm
[13] http://educate-yourself.org/cn/patriotact20012006senatevote.shtml
[14]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/10/29/surprise-controve
rsial-patriot-act-power-now-overwhelmingly-used-in-drug-investigations/
[15]
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/bernie-sanders-predicted-invading-
iraq-would-cause-more-wars-years-come-1991-watch
[16] http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/2007/09/sanders-and-mic.html
[17]
http://www.alternet.org/1988-bernie-sanders-condemned-israeli-attacks-palest
inians-reprehensible
[18]
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/nyt-learning-from-the
-ferguson-tragedy
[19]
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/citing-crisis-in-fergu
son-sanders-to-propose-youth-jobs-bill
[20] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U51lixGY7Nw
[21] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22qFWTsnfh4
[22] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbxobSrrC68
[23] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpgJYNaIeqo
[24]
http://inconvenienttruthsabouthillary.tumblr.com/post/101446326198/video-hil
lary-clinton-refuses-to-talk-to-dreamers
[25]
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/217697-dreamers-praise-sanders-over-clin
ton-after-confronting-both-in-iowa
[26] http://inthesetimes.com/article/18126/killer-mike-bernie-sanders
[27]
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-passes-employme
nt-non-discrimination-act
[28]
http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/19/democratic-presidential-candidate-bernie-s
anders-supports-decriminalizing-marijuana/
[29]
http://www.alternet.org/bernie-sanders-intends-strike-heart-prison-industria
l-complex
[30]
http://www.gallup.com/poll/176180/hispanics-name-immigration-top-problem.asp
x
[31]
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/bernie-sanders-takes-his-populism-red-
states-and-draws-huge-crowd
[32] https://twitter.com/zaidjilani
[33] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on 20 Examples of Bernie
Sanders' Powerful Record on Civil and Human Rights Since the 1950s
[34] http://www.alternet.org/
[35] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
