PoC do not worry about attending a Bernie rally.

[retrowire]

A fellow DUer stated today that he felt that black people would be judged for being in attendance at a Bernie rally. So I say this...

I want PoC to attend a rally in confidence! knowing that they truly stand amongst other people of all races IN SOLIDARITY. I love you all and there are many others that feel the same!

do NOT let this kind of anxiety divide us! be brave, believe in your fellow man, just as I would believe in you! have faith friends, we do stand in solidarity. our race is not our definition, it is only a feature. we are all here together, as one.

let us not be divided by fear or mistrust. please. for the sake of all of us and our nation.

here is that post: http:// www.democraticunderground.com/118722145

[Cleita]

1. Do you have a link? Because I can truly say that all the Bernie supporters I know do

not feel this way. We want to encourage black people to attend Bernie events because we know he is the one candidate who will do the most for you as well as the rest of us.

[retrowire]

3. i updated the op with the link n/t

[Cleita]

6. I don't think that DUer is a Bernie supporter. eom

[retrowire]

7. either way

I see everyone as an equal.

and perhaps my perspective would influence others.

[JustAnotherGen]

10. Not based on the color of their skin

I'm telling you as a Group Host - you might want to update your post.

Because . . . this group has been through HELL this past week. If my group comes at you - there's nothing I can do if they are within TOS.

For your own good - I would edit the post as to the reason WHY?

It was NOT based on the color of their skin.

It was a capacity issue.

Clinton is getting the lions share of the black female vote - she would never be so stupid as to do something like that.

[1StrongBlackMan]

15. True ... I'm am not a Bernie supporter ...

but my OP was not about what Bernie supporters think or want; but rather, what Black people have experienced from Bernie supporters.

[valerief]

16. Or agent provocateurs. You can't tell the difference. nt

[1StrongBlackMan]

19. ...

Or agent provocateurs.

Really?

[valerief]

22. With Ferguson, for example, do you really doubt their existence? They're everywhere.

Anywhere the truth is told.

[1StrongBlackMan]

23. Okay ...

what about the DUers that have been on DU for years that are ardent Bernie supporters and have taken to treating Black DUers, including Black Bernie supporters (like Bravenak) like crap? Are they APs, as well?

[valerief]

31. I don't know about that. I avoid those beating-up threads. There are too many real

problems. I can't be bothered with a DUer's hurt feelings over a post.

[joshcryer]

36. Do you know where the term "outside agitator" comes from?

The group responsible use the term "outside agitator" (AO 206) because it's a term used for slain civil rights activist Jonathan Myrick Daniels. Got his head blown off because he dared to go to a white town that had only one store that allowed black people and defend the black people there. An all white jury acquitted the murderer, btw. (Sickeningly jury selection was based on voter registration and back then they had tests which blacks could not pass.)

It has also as a term been used with regards to Ferguson. Generally to dismiss anger by the black community and in a lot of ways to remove agency away from protestors.

[valerief]

39. I'm talking about agents pretending to be protestors who incite

violence at civil rights protests to taint the protest and give a reason for the police to attack and thereby discredit the protest.

I don't know what you mean.

[joshcryer]

40. I'm saying they chose that name...

...because people would call them agents.

It's cute because outside agitators has strong civil rights meanings.

[djean111]

2. Sorry, I did not realize this was in the AA group.

Last edited Thu Aug 13, 2015, 04:31 PM - Edit history (1)

[retrowire]

4. I've been told this before

but I'll always speak to my fellow people, no matter their race, gender or creed.

we are all one people. and communication is the medicine for that which divides us.

[JustAnotherGen]

12. At risk of getting a hide (Group Host)

I'm giving you a warning. A member just sent me a PM with the fact that your post was alerted and survived a jury.

I don't know that I agree with the alerter's reasons -eh? I don't.

But the one person who voted to hide it - I agreed with their reason.

You didn't break TOS but you aren't helping back here.

Please back away from the Group.

Thanks.

[Tarheel_Dem]

13. I don't understand the sudden interest in this, heretofore, obscure group where largely ignored.....

issues of race are routinely discussed among the remaining handful of black posters, without input from DU's majority. Why the sudden interest?

[Fred Sanders]

18. BLM has raised the profile of visible minority issues everywhere...what a good thing it has been.

[azmom]

5. We stand together in Solidarity.

The people united, shall never be defeated

El pueblo unido, jamas sera vencido.

[jeff47]

8. Well, there's only been three 20,000+ rallies since then

So there's really no way to know how large groups of Sanders supporters would behave towards black women.

[JustAnotherGen]

11. This post (Group Host weighing in here)

It's going to attract a lot of attention from people who have been hostile to this group - not just this past week - but in general. Going back two summers to the Trayvon Martin trial?

We've gone from 4 blocked DU members to 31 in a matter of a few days.


I really hope Number23 comes on soon. I've sent her the text of a draft we are going to put up explaining our methodology as hosts - and one of the points made is -


If some of your first posts in this group are for electioneering - it's poor form. You snuck in with this.

Where were you when we discussed black history? When we discuss housing discrimination? Where were you when 1strongblackman (the gentleman you linked to) had a driving while black incident last September?

Please asking you in the open board - do not clog our board with electioneering posts for Senator Sanders or they will be blocked.

Share with me your concerns about breast cancer in black women or the infant mortality rate in black babies - you got it.

Electioneering - nope.

[retrowire]

24. Well, where was I?

Allow me to explain. And I'll go ahead and apologize for what you've considered poor form. I hope you understand that I wasn't posting here with the prime purpose of gaining votes for Bernie, but rather because I saw that black people were generating a mindset of suspicion and fear around white people at rallies.

But I am young, only 27 and I consider myself wise enough. But I'm modest and admit that I don't know everything.

To level with you, to level with all of you, I've only been recently spurred into politics and motivated because of Bernie. I was a prime example of one afflicted with a bad case of voter apathy. I felt my voice mattered not in the big scheme of things.

I've always cared, but never felt my voice could do anything for anything. I was not a fighter. I've always observed and made observations, but I've never really done much about it. Bernie had inspired me to see that "wow, someone that I've always wanted in politics is really going for the big house."

And that's what only recently brought me to DU.

Why was I never involved in the African American board before?

1. I haven't explored this site really beyond the Bernie group and General Discussion/Primaries forums.

2. I've really just been vested in the campaign for Bernie and have been using this site for that purpose alone.

Now that I've perused the many topics in the African American board, I can see the many other things talked about on this website, it's not just about election day here and so I submit the defense of being a pretty green newbie of this website, and I hope that you would forgive me, if this post had in anyway crossed any lines here.

I only seek good will between me and others. I hate racism, it is such a primitive and ignorant ideal. We are not tribes, not cavemen with territories. We are humans. And I'll say it again, our race is not our definition, but rather a feature.

I'm sorry.

[JustAnotherGen]

27. As a white person

You have that luxury - a feature - not a definition.

My nephews - 22 and 19 - do not.

[retrowire]

30. You're right, I know what you're saying.

You're saying that others define you and yours based on their color.

I get it. I just mean to say, let's not define ourselves by our skin color.

[giftedgirl77]

28. I don't think it's the young people that are a problem

& if they are it's only because they got sucked over from the libertarian/tea party.

I understand why you posted what you did, however, you just kind of stepped on one of our well respected black DUers with this OP in what could be considered his own house (AA Forum). It could be considered bad form, I know I was trying to come up with a polite way to smack you around a little bit but once I saw your age & such I figured I'd give you an easier time.

[retrowire]

32. Haha, thanks for the mercy.

I respect 1SBM, I've seen plenty of his posts already because he is pretty active.

He's quick, intelligent and pretty subtle with sarcasm when it needs to happen.

I didn't mean to step on anyone though, I was just shaken at the idea of anyone feeling uncomfortable at a Bernie rally because of race. I felt I had to say something, anything to say to him and others "Do not worry, this is a possibility but certainly not a fact." I wanted to encourage others to not let that anxiety get in the way of a possible unity.

I just wish our races didn't make us feel like there had to be a natural divide of sorts. And the post 1SBM made just made me feel like that was being reinforced.

[giftedgirl77]

33. It's not a fear, more like a jolt of anxiety & self awareness.

I'm 10 years older than you, my boyfriend is 30 & my son's are so I'm a lot more aware of how it goes. Just don't disappoint by turning into a disrupter.

[Person 2713]

34. Imagine it being reinforced on a daily basis then for a lifetime if 1 post gives you a sad!!

[MisterP]

14. the newest "thing" to claim is that Sanders supporters are just waiting to go after Black blood

everyone who insists the Seattle crowd "turned ugly" is clearly forgetting that they got the whole thing on tape

solidarity can't ever be perfect--but what else do we have?

[pnwmom]

37. Pramila Jayapal, WA State Senator, says the (mostly white) Westlake crowd turned ugly.

Are you saying she was wrong? She was there.

And the specifics she gave support her use of that term.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pramila-jayapal/why-the-bernie-sanders-rally-left-me-heartbroken_b_7972168.html

Why the Bernie Sanders Rally Left Me Heartbroken

By Pramila Jayapal, WA State Senator

SNIP

When the disruption first happened, the (mostly white) crowd turned ugly. It's hard to identify in this scenario what is the chicken and what is the egg. Some of the aggression may have stemmed from the protestors calling the whole crowd racist. Some of it was from annoyance at the disruption. Some was probably from deep disagreement about tactics. Some was from deep disappointment because people had waited for hours on a sunny Saturday afternoon to hear Sanders.

Whatever it was, the conversations that ensued were painful. White and black people called each other names. Some white people called blacks who didn't agree with what was happening racist. Middle fingers were raised in the air against the protestors. People booed the protestors and refused to chant Black Lives Matter with them. The rhetoric became worse, divided, like two sides in a war.

I was in the speakers' tent when the interruption happened, and I was alerted to two young black girls in the tent who were the sisters of one of the speakers. They were weeping, saying how scared they were. I went over to comfort them and we stood there in a tight little circle with our arms around each other.

After the protests, several people came up and wanted to talk. Many were furious. Some outrageous things were said from anger and, in some cases, I had to take on people's anger and misconceptions.

SNIP


______________________________

And this was reported in the SEATTLE TIMES:

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/black-lives-matter-protesters-shut-down-bernie-sanders-rally/

Some in the largely white audience booed and chanted for protesters to let the senator talk. A few yelled for police to make arrests.

Marissa Johnson, one of the protesters, shot back, “I was going to tell Bernie how racist this city is, filled with its progressives, but you did it for me,” accusing the audience of “white supremacist liberalism.” She cited Seattle’s own police problems, including an ongoing Justice Department consent decree over use of force.

The activists demanded 4½ minutes of silence in memory of Brown, to symbolize the 4½ hours his body lay on a Ferguson street. While rally organizers raised their hands in support, some in the crowd yelled profanities.

[V0ltairesGh0st]

17. Can we focus on more than just race and racism ....please.

It's time we ALL step back from our own hotpoint issues and focus on the rest of the issues that Bernie is has been so successfully bringing back to the forefront of a progressive revolution in America. Imagine a better congress, house and senate. Also, it's not all just about Bernie (he'd agree i know ) It's about supporting the democratic house and senate races in 2016 as well. As progressives and liberals WE MUST push back at the disastrous 2014 midterms.

[Fred Sanders]

20. Sorry, but that kind of is a focus in this group....your kind of post is what the Group Hosts are warning of.

[Starry Messenger]

21. This is the African-American group, a protected space.

This group focuses on race and racism. Thanks in advance.

[nc4bo]

25. My husband got stopped very recently for DWB. Scared the hell out of both of us.......

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=493964

Until we can just go about our daily lives in peace, racial injustice is on the top 3 list of just about every black person I know.

Not gonna shut up about this. Been pushed to the back burner too many times.

[giftedgirl77]

26. No, we can not stop talking about race & racism.

That's the damn problem now is nobody wants to talk about it.

[JustAnotherGen]

29. Please note

http://www.democraticunderground.com/118722358

[Tarheel_Dem]

35. Stop focusing on "race & racism" in the "Race & Ethnicity" Group? Really? Did you get lost?

[1StrongBlackMan]

41. LOL ...

Said a young, firebrand by the name of Bernie Sanders ... and, thus ending his association with the Student NonViolent Coordinating Committee.

"And this episode of Unsung, brought to you by Mr. Clean."

[Tarheel_Dem]

42. Ain't that some scary ass shit? I don't think "ally" means what they think it means. Does this mean

that #BernieAin'tSoBlackAfterall?

[pnwmom]

38. Did you forget and think you were posting in the Bernie group? This IS the place to discuss race

and racism.

[JI7]

43. i get a feeling from some don't want certain types of people on Sanders side

other than to just play a submissive role of maybe voting for him and just agreeing with anything they say.

but they are uncomfortable with minorities who are outspoken and have criticisms. they complain about having to be politically correct. these types have been around before sanders got into the race and many were ready to back elizabeth warren but she isn't running and sanders is so they attached themselves to him .

i think many of them are the ones who don't like discussion of social issues and think blm is getting in the way of sanders uniting everyone based on class.