Post removed

[TeddyR]

1. Why does he have to do something

"Geared" towards blacks? What if his policies help everyone, including blacks? I'm perplexed by the efforts to belittle candidates because they (allegedly) haven't done enough for a minority group, when either Hillary or Bernie are so much better on this issue than any Republican. What about American Indians, or the Hmong? Is Bernie less worthy of a candidate if he hasn't done something geared to help those groups?

[Empowerer]

6. Because we kept hearing how Bernie has spent his life "fighting for blacks" as if he's done

something special and hard and risky for us that we should be grateful for. I'm just asking what he did for us that he wouldn't have done anyway for someone else.

So far, I'm just getting crickets ... but I'll wait.

[cali]

14. Stop making stuff up. Just stop

[Empowerer]

17. I'll put you down in the "damn, I got nuttin'!" column

[Bread and Circus]

22. I will put you down in the "constantly posting racially divisive crap" column.

[Empowerer]

41. "Racially divisive" = makes some white people uncomfortable

[farleftlib]

51. responses 13, 16, 23 and 25 require your attention

[AgingAmerican]

67. Do you actually believe Racial Divisiveness is a good thing?

It's what racists do. It's how racial hatred is ginned up. It's how white supremacist groups recruit.

[Bread and Circus]

69. Is that your goal? I feel it is and I don't think it is constructive.

Let's say Hillary wins the nomination...as she is almost certainly to do.

Then...who is gonna need who?

[bvf]

72. No.

Racial divisiveness is any attempt to provoke discord, based on race. I'm sure you recognize your own OP as a great example. That's clearly its only intent.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

2. He voted against all of Hillary's dumb wars

[Cheese Sandwich]

3. Yeah he fought against banking deregulation

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

4. He voted against all of the Clinton's lousy trade deals

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

5. He fought to bail out Main Street instead of Wall Street

[Bobbie Jo]

48. Slap that on a bumper sticker.

Unresponsive...

[Admiral Loinpresser]

7. I don't know if these meet your standard,

but endorsing Jesse Jackson and delivering Vermont for him and establishing the Congressional Progressive Caucus, those things come to mind off the top of my head.

[Empowerer]

15. Endorsing Jackson was good, but that was not "fighting for" blacks and didn't involve any

political risk for Sanders. But I'll count it.

The Progressive Caucus doesn't count. That was was something that benefitted a much larger group than African Americans and would have been done whether blacks were big on it or not. That wasn't about us, it was about a larger group of progressive's interests.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

21. In his book he said

he started the CPC because he felt it would leverage the power of the CBC, as one motivation. fwiw. His book describes some of his collaboration with John Conyers. Maxine Waters is also mentioned, but I can't remember the context.

[Empowerer]

30. Doing something that, among other things, leverages the CBC "as one motivation" does

not equal "fighting for" blacks - the benefit to blacks was a by-product of something he was going to do anyway - and surely would have done even if it didn't leverage the CBC.

It doesn't count. Sorry.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

39. Do you mind if I ask

who you're backing?

[tazkcmo]

66. Isn't it obvious?

I'm sure it's that pioneer in Civil Rights Fighting, Forget About 3 Strikes and For Profit Prisons, Hillary, just call me Hill, Clinton.

[HooptieWagon]

56. Fighting for Jackson in an almost all white state wasn't politically risky?

[JonLeibowitz]

68. Forget politically risky! Try physically risky...

"Mayor Bernard Sanders of Burlington, a Jackson supporter, was slapped by an irate citizen after casting his vote."

MONTPELIER, Vt., April 20— The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who lost Vermont's nonbinding primary vote last month to Michael S. Dukakis by a 2-to-1 margin, made a big comeback in the state's Democratic caucuses, fighting the Massachusetts Governor to a virtual draw in the battle for delegates.

The contest Tuesday night was a tight battle throughout, and at times an emotional one. Mayor Bernard Sanders of Burlington, a Jackson supporter, was slapped by an irate citizen after casting his vote.

...

At the Burlington Democratic caucus many party regulars protested the appearance of Mayor Sanders, a Socialist who ran for mayor as an independent.

Lyman Hunt of Burlington, who took the podium to speak in support of Mr. Gore, said, ''I resent intruders who would undermine and destroy the Democratic Party.'' One voter, Helen Malloy, yelled from the back of the auditorium, ''We want unity among ourselves, not with a group of outsiders.''

Several minutes later, she approached Mayor Sanders as he was returning to his seat after casting his vote and slapped him on the cheek. The Mayor, who at first appeared to think that the woman was about to greet him, looked stunned.

''I don't think that was very nice,'' he told her.

Mr. Jackson had no paid staff in Vermont for either the primary or the caucuses, but the volunteer staff for the primary was estimated at 50 or more.

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/21/us/in-vermont-jackson-and-dukakis-virtually-tie-in-delegate-contests.html

[HooptieWagon]

70. +1000. That's Bernie, standing up for minorities.

Not that they seem to care now, but he still does.

[JonLeibowitz]

73. I think that's unfair to minorities and marginalizes their autonomy to make political choices.

It is alienating to boot.

I may disagree about someone's vote being in their best interest, but I wouldn't disparage them or imply they don't care about who has been their ally. The thing about being an ally rather than a political opportunist is that you remain an ally regardless of reward. I am sure Sanders will still support minority voters in the Senate even if they do not support him in the primary.

[HooptieWagon]

74. Exactly. He's always been there for them and will continue to do so.

If blacks think Clinton will, well that's their choice.

[farleftlib]

75. Well he didn't die for that vote, so it doesn't count

[bvf]

29. Good answer, but I doubt the OP

has any standard in mind.

It's just a wedge, nothing more.

[HooptieWagon]

71. Bingo

[Vinca]

8. Can you tell me why people of color are so enamored with the Clintons?

Policies signed during the Clinton years devastated people in the black community. The legislation was crafted by Republicans and signed by Clinton. I've never understood the reason Bill has been referred to as the "first black president."

[Empowerer]

18. You are off topic - Putting you down as "Damn! I got nuttin'"

[AgingAmerican]

38. "No" would be a lot less typing

[hobbit709]

9. I guess your red baiting didn't work

so now it's this.
What will tomorrow bring?

[beam me up scottie]

12. Good question.

The op certainly has been on a roll lately, I just hope people don't take the bait.

[bvf]

55. No bait. Just an empty hook.

[beam me up scottie]

76. Yep, love the "after he moved" caveat. Those goalposts get moved farther away every op.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

10. The correct question is: Will blacks learn that he's "fought for" them before they vote?

[bravenak]

49. Please do continue questioning our learning abilities and intelligence

We love when people do that.

[farleftlib]

11. He hasn't hurt them like the Clintons have (n/t)

[Tom Rinaldo]

13. You mean stuff like "reforming" welfare, and mandatory sentancing laws?

That type stuff?

[polly7]

19. You won't hear even a chirp back on that. nt.

[Empowerer]

36. Non-responsive

Snarky insinuations about legislation that Bill Clinton signed (and that Sanders voted for) does not in any way demonstrate something that Sanders did to fight for African Americans.

But you probably know that.

You go in the "Damn! I got nuttin'" category, too.

Getting a little crowded in there ...

[farleftlib]

42. responses 13, 16, 23 and 25 require your attention

[Tom Rinaldo]

44. Bill Clinton did a little bit more than "sign" stuff like that

He was a prime mover in those directions, certainly one of the prime movers in moving the Democratic Party in that direction.. And I always gave credit to Hillary for being an active partner in that Administration, and I'm not being snarky in saying that. She was, for better and/or worse.

[SammyWinstonJack]

80. You're the one whose got nuttin...

[Truprogressive85]

16. Disenfranchisement

Being the one white person who help report the purging of black voter of Florida

[Admiral Loinpresser]

32. Wow. Did not know that. n/t

[jfern]

20. As opposed to Bill Clinton who designated a star on the Arkansas flag

to represent the Confederacy?

[Mudcat]

23. the NAACP gave him a 100% rating during his tenure as a Senator

I suppose they are aware he's fought the good fight

[Empowerer]

24. Oh, come on people - you can better than this!

You've been talking smack for months about how Bernie has been fighting for black folks for 50 years (ever since he marched with Dr. King, which he never did, BTW). Now I've thrown you a juicy softball and you can't come up with anything other than this?

But I have faith and am keeping hope alive. Come with it!

[Arazi]

27. Why try? You've already made up your mind so it's a waste of time

nobodys taking your bait because it's futile. You can't even be bothered to do a simple Google search. Why the hell should anyone care to get into this with you?

[farleftlib]

28. Please respond to #16

[bvf]

37. Talk you yourself much?

[Arazi]

25. You can google

Theres lots of info.

Here's just one article on his years as mayor

http://www.thenation.com/article/bernies-burlington-city-sustainable-future/

Everything from low income housing, after school programs, new business assistance, putting a grocery store in a food desert, setting up neighborhood planning commissions etc are mentioned.

I actually find these threads counter productive. Sanders gets no credit for anything he's done unless it's been specifically labelled a "black initiative".

Your mind is made up for Hillary and I'm really not interested in banging my head against this wall anymore.

[Motown_Johnny]

26. Does campaigning for Rev. Jackson count?

[farleftlib]

31. responses 13, 16, 23 and 25 require your attention

[californiabernin]

33. I see the game you're playing, and it's pathetic. The Revolution will not be playing along.

[Jefferson23]

34. Bernie Sanders endorsed Jessie Jackson for President of the United States:

snip:
Sanders did show up at the Burlington caucus that April, awkward as it was, and he delivered a spirited endorsement speech casting Jackson's candidacy in decidedly Sanders-like terms.

"Tonight we are here to endorse the candidate who is saying loud and clear that enough is enough, that it's time that this nation was returned to the real people of America, the vast majority of us, and that power no longer should rest solely with a handful of banks and corporations who presently dominate the economic and political life of this nation," he declared. "It is not acceptable to him, to me, or to most Americans, that 10 percent of the population of this nation is able to own 83 percent of the wealth, and the other 90 percent of us share 17 percent of the wealth."

Sanders received an icy reception at the caucus from some Democrats, who stood up and turned their back to the stage during his address. "And when I returned to my seat, a woman in the audience slapped me across the face," Sanders recalled in his 1998 book, Outsider in the House. "It was an exciting evening."

Jackson went on to win the Vermont caucus, one of his handful of victories outside the South. If there was a lesson in the Jackson campaign for Sanders, it was "realizing he didn't always really need to be in opposition to the Democrats," says Greg Guma, a Burlington progressive activist who joined Sanders in supporting Jackson. In essence, Sanders had formed his first political alliance—one he would continue in 1990 when he won his first congressional election with Democratic endorsements. After that, he began huddling with Democrats on Capitol Hill, and he formed the House Progressive Caucus, which included mostly Democrats. "Bernie is viewed always as an idealist," Guma notes. "But at the same time you have to recognize that this is a fairly pragmatic politician that will drive his agenda forward, and he makes alliances based on this practical calculation."

Throughout the 1988 campaign, Sanders maintained that Jackson would have been better off running as a third-party candidate. And he told Mother Jones in 1989 that the time was right for a new lefty party to challenge Democrats, as he had done in Burlington. But Sanders had no regrets about his endorsement. When Sanders arrived in Washington as a first-term congressman-elect, Jackson—along with Ralph Nader—hosted a "welcome to DC" event for him at Eastern Market. A grungy looking band played "This Land Is Your Land," as balloons fell from the rafters.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/12/bernie-sanders-jesse-jackson-campaign

[notadmblnd]

35. He has been a longtime advocate for fair and affordable housing.

In his 1981 mayoral campaign in Burlington, Vt., he ran against the incumbent’s plans to raise property taxes and “proposed raising taxes on commercial property instead.”

Once in office, the city required property owners to give residents two years notice before their apartments could be converted to condos as well as giving renters the preemptive right to buy converted units. Bernie prevented landowners from bulldozing affordable-housing units unless they first built an equal number of new units, and he implemented economic development projects and a communal land trust for affordable housing — policies considered radical in the early ‘80s but which are more commonplace today.

http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-racial-justice/

[noamnety]

53. Nope sorry that's doesn't qualify.

If I understand the challenge correctly, it doesn't matter how many black people benefited from his policies - if even one white person also could have potentially benefited, you are disqualified.

[polly7]

54. BINGO! nt.

[notadmblnd]

58. Answer the same question about Hillary then.

how many black people benefited from her policies - if even one white person also could have potentially benefited, you are disqualified.

[noamnety]

83. I have one for Hillary!

She was partially responsible for getting the first black president elected.

(and no, I don't mean Bill.)

[bvf]

61. And *that* perfectly eviscerates the OP.

[JimDandy]

77. Nope. That would be an economic issue that wasn't geared toward benefitting Blacks.

That appears to be the basic position of some of the AA Clinton supporter's on this board over the last 9 months.

This is a futile exercise that requires someone who, if just 4% of their constituents were Blacks, needed to have done something that benefited those Blacks exclusively. NO. ONE. ELSE.

It is an absurd position, and everyone knows it. But it's what they are using to protect their "Firewall" (such an awful term), as the Clinton Campaign keeps calling it.

ETA: I see others in this thread caught on while I was typing this.

[notadmblnd]

81. It's sad that HRC seems to see POC as objects to be used for political gain.

Firewall indeed.

[orpupilofnature57]

40. Wanted to keep us out of Iraq ,or isn't that a Black issue ? As a Mayor First to indict the CIA for

breaking the law an inciting paranoia, not a Black issue ?

[JimDandy]

43. Give us a list of things that qualify as geared toward benefiting blacks and their best interests.

You must have some things in mind that you can rattle off the top of your head.

[silenttigersong]

45. Joined

the Dem party,and has begun to make the word Socialist less terrifying .Enabling real socialists in the future whatever color to share power ,with a parliamentary form of central government ,reflecting a more democratic country.

[Half-Century Man]

46. He is on the budget committee

And has opposed cutting social safety programs.

He has fought the school-prison pipeline/private prison industry which disproportionately adversely affects African American communities.

He has repeatedly called for the decriminalization of Marijuana and the reversal of convictions for non-violent possession convictions. Which, once again, disproportionately adversely affects African American communities. Due to the systemic racism inherent in the criminal justice system, fertilized by the War on Drugs and watered by the Clinton 1994 Crime Bill.

[bravenak]

47. No

But somebody will damn sure say welfare because everybody knows that we only care about welfare. We do not WORK.

[Bobbie Jo]

52. They already did, look up. nt

[bvf]

65. What?

Let me clarify that:

What the fuck are you talking about?

[notadmblnd]

50. Why don't you tell us about Hillary and all the things she's done?

How has she gone out of her way and put her political capital on the line or go against the popular view of her virtually all white base for POC?

Please be specific.

[HooptieWagon]

57. Pushed through funding for many community health clinics

In black communities and neighborhoods.

[uponit7771]

59. Empowerer you have a very very long list of

... nothing in this thread so far...

I don't like the over double standard

[jeff47]

79. You're gonna have to clear out your ignore list to actually see the replies. (nt)

[tularetom]

60. At least you've given up on reparations

Now that reparations guy has said he'll vote for Sanders.

But you're still trying to stir the shit.

I don't think a lot of people take you seriously anymore.

[Aerows]

62. Yes, and I haven't even read the rest of the thread

He impacted the community by speaking of incarceration rates in the area, both parishes, where I lived. In those two Parishes, 78% are black, 67% are there for drug related offenses. 0% of them coming out of jail white, black, Asian -From another planet Jupiter- will be unable to get a job that pays less than minimum wage unless they possess extraordinary talent.

[tazkcmo]

63. Supported Jesse Jackson's presidential run.

What did his opponent do? The GOP candidates? Can any of it have happened on an odd numbered Tuesday with an ambient temperature above 73 F during the day?

[AgingAmerican]

64. Classic Rovian bullshit

[HassleCat]

78. Capital punishment

Sanders is against it, of course, and white people favor it my a wide margin. It kills black men in numbers way out of proportion, and eliminating it would benefit black en mire than any other group.

[DCBob]

82. BTW, why did Bernie move to Vermont?

What was wrong with New York?