Seattle NAACP President feels "torn" about the BLM protest -- and the response to it.

[pnwmom]

So now are we going to start telling the NAACP that they're wrong, too?

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

Gerald Hankerson, president of the Seattle King County NAACP, said he was “torn” by the protest. Hankerson spoke at the Westlake rally and led the crowd at one point in a chant of “Black Lives Matter.”

But he said he was surprised at how hostile some in the liberal crowd were to the protesters.

“I know they were there to hear Bernie, but what was missed was the message of these two women,” Hankerson said. “I would have loved to have seen Bernie respond to what they wanted.”

[artislife]

1. Are you hoping for it or afraid of it?

That we are going to start telling the NAACP that they are wrong, in your assertion.

[pnwmom]

6. I think that would be a mistake. We should be listening harder and criticizing less. n/t

[winter is coming]

18. I'm not going to listen to someone who calls Sanders a white supremacist.

Nobody gets a pass for that shit. Nobody.

[pnwmom]

22. That was a ridiculous claim. But Bernie could have ordered his people to get the women

off the stage, so he could answer them.

Or he could have taken the police up on their offer to arrest them.

Hecklers are a political fact of life. I think Bernie needs to find a better way of dealing with them than just leaving the stage himself. With better security, he could have prevented these women from ever getting on stage and grabbing the mic in the first place.

[cherokeeprogressive]

39. Yeah, that would have been AWESOME. "could have ordered his people to get the women off the stage"

Had that happened, Bernie himself would have been accused of assaulting them and all last night and this morning DU would have been arguing about whether or not he was right in doing so.

[pnwmom]

46. Code Pink people are routinely removed. There will be a little flurry of attention, but nothing like

this.

But you're right. The better alternative would have been for his security people to keep them off the stage in the first place.

[cherokeeprogressive]

56. Keeping them off the stage would have the same result. "Bernie assaulted BLM!" Don't be coy.

You know it and I know it.

They aggressively demanded the mic and the stage, Bernie Sanders stepped aside and let them have those things. They weren't there to begin OR continue a dialog with Bernie Sanders. According to their own press release, they were there to "hold Bernie Sanders accountable". They called this BowDownBernie.

And they were speaking for BLM. Their press release says so. Keeping them off the stage would have guaranteed that DUers would start posting that Bernie Sanders not only ignored them in his arrogant way, but that he also assaulted BLM.

[pnwmom]

57. Not true. He was able to keep protesters off the stage in his next event, because of how it was set up.

If he wants to avoid this in the future, he needs to do more event management and not put himself in this kind of position without a plan.

[Ed Suspicious]

81. This was not his event. Tell it to the organizers.

[pnwmom]

84. No, HE needs to tell it to the organizers, or decline invites to events that he can't control.

He's playing in the big leagues now. He doesn't have to attend rallies at Westlake Center if the venue can't be managed in a way that lets him take the stage and keep it.

[Mojorabbit]

100. I was a member of code pink

and I think the protesters were over the top. They were given some time at the mic. I have no problem with that but they did not use the opportunity wisely after speaking and the the minutes of silence they asked for. The backlash shows they failed to garner support for the cause. Since it seems that at least one of the women is a right wing fundy I am not inclined to cut her any slack.

[DCBob]

64. Yes, I agree forced removal of the protestors would have been the appropriate response.

Give them a few moments to make their comments then ask to leave or else they will be removed by security.

It happens often in situations like this. Just giving up and leaving is not the way to deal with it.

[George II]

63. No one called Sanders a white spuremacist. Where did you see or hear that?

[Fawke Em]

75. The activists called everyone in attendance that.

While Bernie wasn't "part of the crowd," he was still "in attendance."

http://mashable.com/2015/08/08/black-lives-matter-bernie-sanders-seattle/

[DCBob]

77. That was stupid of them.

Bernie's supporters are of course not white supremacists. That's just absurd.

[George II]

83. No, she accused those in the crowd who were booing them....

...of exhibiting "white supremacist liberalism". That is totally different than calling them "white supremacists".

It's like me telling someone that he did something "stupid" - I am NOT calling that person stupid.

I just wonder how many people in this discussion and how many people in that crowd (INCLUDING Sanders) are aware of the issues in Seattle these days with respect to the police and racial climate. I'd guess very few.

There has been a lot of police violence against civilians in general, blacks in particular, in Seattle. That's why their police department is operating under a Department of Justice consent agreement over the use of force.

Not only that, but the two women spoke to the organizers and they all agreed that if the two women got a chance to speak, the event would have gone on as scheduled. Unfortunately, the CROWD shouted them down and the event was called off.

Here's a pretty detailed article from the Seattle Times describing exactly what happened.

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

[beam me up scottie]

124. He was called a white supremacist and a Zionist, it's on YouTube.

Google it.

[shaayecanaan]

91. Thats what I keep telling my wife

if she REALLY loved me, she would put up with me giving her a bit of lip from time to time.

I called her a white supremacist for the third time today and she got up and left! Which just proves how much of a racist she really is.

(sarcasm)

[Ken Burch]

105. Nobody's saying that.

Just don't make the challenges into attacks.

[winter is coming]

2. I would loved to have seen Bernie respond, too, but he wasn't given the chance. n/t

[HooptieWagon]

4. +100

[pnwmom]

10. Bernie CHOSE to leave instead of to speak. The police had offered to remove the protesters

but Bernie said no.

[winter is coming]

15. Bernie had other commitments. If the protesters had wanted Bernie to speak,

they could have given up the mic.

[pnwmom]

17. They wanted the mic. And they are saying that they will keep disrupting till

Bernie comes up with a criminal justice reform package, and they specifically noted that O'Malley has done so.

But Bernie had the choice to get them off the stage; or to have had security arranged prior to the event to prevent them from ever getting up there.

[tularetom]

31. And if he would have had them removed?

There would be twenty threads on DU screeching "racist", "brutality", "white privilege" or whatever the current outrage du jour may be.

Nope, Sanders handled this like the gentleman he is, so now he's being crucified for not throwing them out on their ass..

So now what? They're going to continue to throw their little tantrums until he gives them what they want. My reaction would be "don't hold your breath", but Sanders is more forgiving than I am.

These protestors are marginalizing themselves. They're not going to get any concessions from the republicans and they're going to get lip service from Clinton.

I guess Senator Sanders just has to be more of a politician. Everybody just wants to be pandered to and he'll have to learn to do it like everybody else.

[pnwmom]

33. The best alternative would have been for him to have the organizers keep them off the stage in the

first place.

But he would have had strong support if, after they went on for 5 or 10 minutes, he had directed for them to be removed -- like Code Pink protesters are frequently. He shouldn't have just given up and left.

[tularetom]

41. I think he somewhat naively believes in the first amendment

To a fault.

What these protesters wanted was a confrontation, hopefully one complete with cops, tear gas and billy clubs. Then they could scream police brutality for the next six months and there would be video of the ugly scene.

And we'd see thread after thread condemning Sanders because some jerks provoked an incident.

Nah, he did the right thing and its becoming more apparent by the day who the racists are.

[GoneFishin]

80. Yep. He did it exactly right. You are right about hyperbolic bullshit accusations of brutality if

he had so much as conceded to having them escorted off the stage.

Considering that they were flinging accusations of "racist white supremacist" at people who just wanted to hear Bernie speak, I can only imagine what over-the-top bullshit they would come up with if Bernie had asked the police to escort them off the stage.

[cascadiance]

126. The problem is that with this event and netroots, his people weren't the "organizers"...

He was speaking as one of many people invited to these events (Netroots, and this event speaking for Social Security and Medicare).

Yes, it would be nice to have kept these people off stage, but his people didn't have control of these events. Perhaps this is why Hillary Clinton avoided Netroots, and doesn't go to these other events much too without her own security being a big part of it. I think Bernie and his people are probably learning that in order for such events not to be disrupted, that in the future, they'll have to ask to be a bigger part of the planning and implementation of the security of such events. It's nice for him and all of us working for him to feel that the people will all just love having a lot more personal contact with him, but at some point as his candidacy gets more serious, he unfortunately will have to be more strict on security requirements of where he speaks, even if they aren't his events.

[pnwmom]

130. Right. If he goes into the general, he won't be able to accept invites where security

can't be tightly controlled, as at his rally later on the same day. He might as well start now.

[artislife]

47. +++10000

And you know how many happy people there would have been.



First thing I learned in customer service. Do match the anger you are being presented with. Normally, once the person has said their piece and have felt heard, you can then see if you can help them.


Sometimes you cannot help them. Sometimes you can.

[Facility Inspector]

128. They didn't want him to speak

they wanted to hold him accountable for being a "white liberal racist." They wanted him to BOW DOWN. They wanted to humiliate and make a spectacle.

They had no message.

[cali]

24. read the article linked for fuck's sake

It says right there that the organizer- got that?- ended the rally because the activists refused to relinquish the Mike.

Your, er, bias is just....

[artislife]

26. Because arresting them would have been the right choice? nt

[pnwmom]

28. Preventing them from getting on the stage and taking over the mic would have been the right choice.

And they could have asked the police to remove them but not to arrest them. Police wouldn't have had to arrest them if they left peaceably.

[artislife]

30. See post 29. nt

[appalachiablue]

32. So it's all on Bernie, fine.

[winter is coming]

34. I've noticed that. Someone else shows their butt, but Bernie should have done better.

[jberryhill]

79. Uh, removing them with police to "respond"?

Horrible optics. It was a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.

It is utterly disingenuous to say "I would have liked to have heard Bernie respond."

It's bullshit. Bernie was not going to be given an opportunity to "respond" to jack shit. And not having them forcibly removed is not somehow "choosing not to respond". He had no choice, and that was the point.

[Historic NY]

102. Not really it was a public venue....

the police should have been there. At the very least his staff should have arranged for it.

[Live and Learn]

129. LOL I am sure Bernie having them arrested instead so he could speak

would have appeased all his denouncers here on DU.

[appalachiablue]

42. ...

[George II]

90. Not true - the two women and the organizers came to agreement to give them a few...

...minutes to speak and have a moment of silence. The crowd refused and booed them when they began to speak.

[stranger81]

92. A few minutes?

Try more than twenty minutes, laden with invective towards everyone there, with no indication they were ever going to let anyone else be heard.

This was a no-win situation for Bernie, exactly as intended.

[George II]

93. That's because the crowd insisted on booing and heckling them.

Read this article:

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

[stranger81]

98. No, that's because the protestors demanded not only that they be allowed to speak,

but that they received with respectful silence while hurling abuse at the audience and invited speaker for almost half an hour. That expectation is, to put it bluntly, delusional.

I've read the Seattle Times article. I've watched the unedited video of the entire disruption. And those women deserved no friendlier reception than they got.

[leftynyc]

131. You mean the rude hecklers

who took over the stage and microphone wanted everyone to be polite to them? That there are those who don't see the problem with this crap is itself a huge problem.

[m-lekktor]

3. audiences are always hostile towards hecklers.

watch any video where hecklers show up and the audience always goes against them, drowns them out with chants or just plain boos them. this audience reaction isn't unique to this event.

[HooptieWagon]

8. Hijackers, not hecklers.

No surprise the audience wasn't sympethetic...BLM has a really poor strategy, and are rapidly marginalizing themselves.

[pnwmom]

9. Don't you think that this NAACP head has faced audiences before?

And yet he was surprised by some of the reaction.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

40. He was surprised an audience didn't like being called "white supremacist liberals"...

Last edited Sun Aug 9, 2015, 11:10 PM - Edit history (1)

with out-of-control, physical protesters storming a stage? Huh, imagine that.

[sheshe2]

106. I am very sure that

Michael, Trayvon, Eric and all the others

He was surpised an audience didn't like being called "white supremacist liberals"...
with out-of-control, physical protesters storming a stage? Huh, imagine that.

were surprised and shocked by being shot dead and strangled to death. All unarmed.

THEY WERE KILLED BY OUT OF CONTROL "PEACE OFFICERS"

Here.

Scroll the pictures.

http://www.theroot.com/photos/2014/07/unarmed_black_men_killed_by_law_enforcement.html

So sorry Bernie felt uncomfortable. You talk about "physical protesters storming a stage"?

What the hell about the"physical" murder of unarmed black men?

[WorseBeforeBetter]

107. False equivalency, and I'm not playing your bullshit game.

Sanders didn't come across as uncomfortable at all. He gave those assholes 20 minutes, they wouldn't relinquish the mic, he had another engagement, and left. Try all you want to manipulate it into something it's not, but DU *ain't* buying it.

[sheshe2]

112. No.

Not False equivalency, and the second time he has left the stage.

He needs more strength if he wishes to be the PRESIDENT of THE UNITED STATES.

He can't keep running away.

FYI, his black constituents are not assholes.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

114. Meet Symone Sanders, Bernie's new National Press Secretary.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251506482

(I'm playing the ProSense game, linking to my own OPs...)

[sheshe2]

115. Cool.

A black person.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

116. Ha ha, I knew you would be dismissive.

So utterly predictable.

[sheshe2]

117. you are not close to ProSense's league,

NOT by a long shot!!!!!

She did not play games, sadly you are.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

118. Ooh, you really got me, Lloyd Bentsen!

Face it she, you lost this round. But I know you'll be back with an immasmartypants "white supremacist liberal" screed in no time. We wait with bated breath!

[sheshe2]

119. Nope...

I lost nothing.

FYI, Nancy Letourneau's posts are fucking spot on.

Guess what BLM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I await with baited breath how you tell black people their lives do NOT matter and then you make a motion to suppress their voice.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

120. Nancy LeTourneau, the "former" conservative fundie, is a colossal joke...

and I simply adore how the majority of DU shoots her down at every turn. The miniscule traffic on her blog proves her *jokiness*; traffic that's probably generated all by you.

Try again with that last sentence ... it makes absolutely no sense.

[sheshe2]

121. Links please.

Then I will supply some for the Progressives dream. Warren and Bernie.

The ex Republican and the Independent that is not a Democrat.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

122. Uh-oh, did you fall out of love with your senator, Ms. Warren?

I'd dig up a post where you unabashedly sing her praises, but enh, why bother.

Try another angle, because the "I not D" is a big ol' loser. No one gives a shit, but for Hillary supporters. 20,000+ in Portland tonight would agree. And I'm sure Ms. Symone D. Sanders agrees!

[bigtree]

5. no

...first we need to question your motives in posting this to deflect from his comments. Next we need to question whether he's just a Hillary supporter.

Then we can sufficiently trash him.

Not much room left under the bus - need more buses.

[George II]

69. Why question the "motives", why not just take it on face value and address what was said?

[bigtree]

82. sarcasm, George

[Comrade Grumpy]

7. The NAACP guy said he was "torn" by the protests.

It sounds like he supported the message but understood how alienating the activists were.

Being able to think with some nuance is a good thing. Other people should try it more.

[HooptieWagon]

11. Bomb-throwers don't do nuanced thinking.

Apparently they don't do any thinking.

[bigtree]

14. and you're just tossing flowers and confetti?

...please.

[pnwmom]

12. But he also said he was surprised at the hostile reaction of some in the crowd.

Even though, as the local NAACP head, he has faced Seattle audiences many times before.

[Comrade Grumpy]

27. Gee, why would anybody be hostile toward hijackers and disruptors?

People waited for hours to hear Bernie speak, and they got shit on by a handful of assholes instead.

They had every right to be pissed.

[bigtree]

16. he appears not only sympathetic to the protesters

...but alienated by the reaction to the protests by some in the crowd.

I don't think 'nuance' involves defining 'torn' for the man beyond the statement provided in the article.

[Larkspur]

13. How many of the BLM "protestors" are registered to vote?

How many are planning on running for elected office?

I guess it is OK for security at the 50th anniversary of the March on Selma to forcibly remove BLM "protesters" and for the audience to jeer the BLM "protestors" with chants of "Are you registered to vote?"

I suggest Bernie supporters rebuke BLM bullies with chants of "Are you registered to vote?" "Get out and vote!"
It would be great hearing the crowd drown out the BLM bullies with these chants.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

48. "Are you registered to vote?" "Get out and vote!"

I forgot about that! And good idea about how to rebuke the #BLM bullies.

[Eleanors38]

49. BLM: Bureau of Land Management, given how they take over space?

Hey! Didn't one of 'em have a think for Sarah Palin?

[George II]

71. In today's political climate, a better question would be "how many have been ALLOWED to register...

...to vote?" !!!

[cali]

19. hostility engenders hostility and the and contempt demonstrated

by the activists was met with what I thought was remarkable restraint. Hey, call spokespeople white supremacists, demand Bernie publicly grovel and apologize for unspecified offences, scream in people's faces, shove them, refuse after 20 minutes to let Bernie speak, refuse to shake his hand when he forged it, and then you're surprised that the crowd didn't cheer you?

And yes that is precisely what happened. There for anyone to see. Oh, and the name of the action was bow down bernie. Yes, it's just charming to demand that a Jewish man who lost most of his paternal family to the gas chambers.to bow down to you.

[appalachiablue]

35. Bow Down Bernie. What's the tag for the GOP, Bush and others I wonder.

[Horizens]

20. Why Not?

"So now are we going to start telling the NAACP that they're wrong, too? "

If I think they're wrong about something, why shouldn't I tell them?

[LittleBlue]

21. Same NAACP who honored Donald Sterling with lifetime achievement awards

and gave Rachel Dolezal a job.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

54. Ah, much-needed humor...

in the midst of all this ugliness.

[Bluenorthwest]

23. You know, you have not always supported disruptive political activism....Here is 2006, peace

activist, Hillary Clinton. What you said then was this:
"People came there to listen to Hillary. The protestors were preventing them from doing that. If they wanted to make their point, they could have waved signs, or worn t-shirts, or done something to draw attention, other than trying to shout down the person everyone else came to hear.
When I went to hear Hillary, I had to pass a gauntlet of chanting, sign-waving protestors. Fine. But at least when I got inside I could hear her speak."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2216549#2216679

You have also been less than receptive to LGBT protests which include any interruption of those others have come to hear.

I am very uncomfortable with a life or death emergency political movement being exploited in any partisan manner. So when I see those who do not tend to favor a certain tactic become champions of it, I take a very mindful approach.

[Android3.14]

25. pnwmom, there simply is no excuse

I'll continue to support the NAACP, but what the BLM did is unjustifiable. BLM, and specifically the stupid bigots that disrupted the gathering, have done more to harm the move towards racial equality than any other action since Ferguson. They need to publicly apologize and make direct commitments to target people who are against their stated goals rather than go after the only genuine candidate that supports their goals.

I'm disappointed that Hankerson lacks the courage to confront these jerks.

[George II]

85. They agreed (them AND the organizers) that if they were allowed to speak the disruption would end...

...and the event would proceed as scheduled. Unfortunately they were not allowed to speak by the audience, who continued to boo them. Read this article, it explains exactly what happened. It's an excellent article about the incident and other things that happened in Seattle.

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

[stranger81]

94. Being allowed to speak -- which they were,

for nearly half an hour, is not the same thing as demanding a particular reception from the audience they were abusing. And that is what they were really insisting on getting.

Tough cookies. You act like an asshole, you get treated like an asshole.

[George II]

96. No they weren't - you didn't read the article.

[stranger81]

99. Don't tell me what I did or didn't do.

I read the goddamn article. I watched the video of the disruption from start to finish. BLM was not only allowed to speak -- they were allowed to completely hijack the remainder of the event, and they were allowed to abuse the audience and invited speaker.

There is only one person on that stage with BLM who was denied the opportunity to speak --- not slink over in response to a hostile demand that he answer for some list of perceived sins, but to speak uninterrupted to the thousands of people who were there to hear him -- and that person's name is Bernie Sanders.

[George II]

101. Sorry....okay, you didn't comprehend what was said in the article.

[stranger81]

104. Dude. Give it a rest.

I know what I saw. A "gotcha" moment may have been had from NN, but this time the vast majority of us are not buying what you're selling.

[artislife]

29. How many of you think this OP

is aimed at poking the bear and any further posts are to poke the bear even more?

The point of poking the bear is to get an outrageous reaction and then run to the village screaming about how outrageous the bear is.

[winter is coming]

36. The entire disruption yesterday was about poking the bear. n/t

[bigtree]

37. no, you're not going to be able to hide behind that ridiculous claim

...read my first post on this thread.

First you question the motive of the person making the query.

Next you question the motive of the subject in the post dissenting from your view.

Then you feel free to trash all concerned.

This is some classic shit. Is it calculated or born out of obtuseness?

[artislife]

45. It isn't ridiculous, IMO

Yes, I question the motive. It is an OP, we are asked to have questions on OP and the poster.

No, I question why it is posted, it feels like a camouflaged piece of flame bait.

I am not trashing all concerned, I am trashing the framing of the "concern".

I think your response is another form of "What me, how dare you."


YMMV

[bigtree]

50. and this post of yours

...it can't be similarly questioned?

It's remarkable how many people who want their remarks and posts taken at face value are comfortable questioning the motives of those they disagree with, as if their own efforts are unassailable.

I think your post stinks. Interesting how you're singling out this post when there are countless others which are far more inflammatory and deliberately and unabashedly so. Look forward to you castigating them in a similar spectacularly hypocritical fashion.

[artislife]

52. Yes

I will tell you my motive.
My motive is that I see a piece of flame bait lying in wait hoping to stir the bear.
I see the bear responding and the person who laid the bait--feeling successful.
I imagine...that the responses of the bear will later be linked to as to uphold the belief that the bear is outrageous.


You are correct. There are more and more threads doing this better and harder.
It was clear to me how to write about it this morning. I didn't find the words to what I have seen again and again.

And I think the fact that this OP feels very subtle is more the reason to point it out.

I will, as you can see. I have copied and pasted my reply so I can be more efficient.

[bigtree]

53. well I think your claim is not only full of shit

...but something you concocted to deflect from posts and remarks which you disagree with. It's a transparent dodge which only serves to highlight your own bias. I'm surprised you think it's clever.

[artislife]

55. shrug

[appalachiablue]

38. Never heard that, def something to remember.

[artislife]

43. I think I am going to

copy my poking the bear post in my one note and pull it out whenever I perceive it to be happening.

And yes, I think this is one of those posts.


YMMV

[appalachiablue]

44. Absolutely.

[stranger81]

97. Count me in.

The self-righteous hypocrisy of it all simply reeks.

[Eleanors38]

51. Wanted Bernie's response? So did thousands of others who came to listen.

[GitRDun]

58. You are wasting your time with many Sanders people here

I've been trying to communicate today Bernie needs to lead here and is not.

If he has a bad relationship with NAACP, POC, or any other Democratic constituency, that's Bernie's fault. He is the leader of his campaign.

If he wanted to speak at that rally despite the protesters, he could have. Scheduling or some other excuse is a cop out.

Barack Obama faced some of the most daunting obstacles ever faced by a Presidential candidate. He succeeded because he led...assimilated a wide variety of constituencies into his campaign. Maybe he made it look too easy.

Obama and his supporters weren't out there explaining how every misfortune was someone else's fault.

It's time for Bernie to step up..

[sadoldgirl]

59. Yes, indeed a nice flame bait,

One knows the intention and is not amused.

[MellowDem]

60. BLM apologized...

Of course the NAACP is torn, they don't want to alienate either group. These BLM tactics are doing great at dividing traditional allies though.

[Hydra]

86. BLM did not apologize

They in fact required the poster to rescind the apology and disavow any connection to them.

BLM's stated goal(which we finally got) is to splinter the social justice movement and make everyone who is not AA unwelcome in it. If the NAACP supports that, there may be a problem.

[elana i am]

61. was it a liberal event?

i was under the impression it was an event for social security and medicaid and sanders was an invited speaker not that it was a bernie event.

i'm not sure what BLM is attempting to accomplish, but this is the second time they interrupted an event that isn't even about bernie sanders. can they really expect to make any leeway at an event where maybe even bernie sanders wouldn't get an entirely welcome response.

i understand that they are trying to force sanders' hand and garner press for themselves, but they have to understand that there is going to be collateral damage when they are also shutting down other forms of activism. the first event was immigration, the second was social security. presumably the activists involved in those events put a lot of money and planning into them. bernie sanders has now become a potential hindrance to these kinds of events.

is it their intention to get in front of an audience that is not entirely liberal and open some eyes? or is it specifically bernie sanders they are targeting? i don't know. i think they would suit their cause better if they targeted him at HIS events, where at least some of the audience would naturally be sympathetic.

[Cha]

62. Mahalo for this statement from Gerald Hankerson, pnwmom.. He sounds like a good hearted man.

#BlackLivesMatter

I'll leave you with this I just saw on FB..

"I'm seeing lots of posts on Facebook and Twitter from other white people in response to U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders' Seattle rally today, and more specifically, the ‪#?BlackLivesMatter‬ protesters on the scene.

Many "Why protest Bernie Sanders and not, say, a GOP candidate?" posts are going around (or some variation, thereof). And most frustratingly, posts that essentially say, "Fall in line. He's the most progressive candidate in the race!"

You're missing the point.

Why protest Sanders and not Cruz, Huckabee, Trump, or Bush? Think of it this way: If a bully in your school (stand in for GOP candidates in this example) said something rude to you in the hallway, you'd likely go, "Ugh. That's annoying." But if a close friend (stand in for Sanders in this example) just out of nowhere came up and said that same rude comment, you might actually confront them over it. "Why did you say that? That's not cool. I expect better from you."

Point being, you react differently towards the person you think should be on your side because you care about that relationship (or, at very least, have hope for it), and you'd like to see improvement.

That's what's going on here. The "go focus on the 'real enemy'" line gets tossed around a lot, but it's nothing more than a way to derail a conversation.

I am white. I cannot and will never be able to comprehend what it's like to be black in America. I can't say "I know how you feel," because I don't and I can't know. And because of that, it is not my place to weigh in on tactical merits of the BLM protests. What I can do — and what other white people should do — is to stand in solidarity with those protesters, to raise their voices. What we shouldn't do is complain about tactics.

I 100% support the #BlackLivesMatter movement and protests, and if protesting Bernie Sanders rallies is what they feel they need to do, then I am supportive in that.

We need to ask why Sanders, knowing that this isn't wasn't going away anytime soon, wasn't prepared to respond with an acknowledgment that now, in 2015, the U.S. is largely a white supremacist culture. If he wants to win, he needs to earn the votes. To do that, he needs to respond to the concerns of the BLM protesters, and make the fight to dismantle white supremacy and state-sanctioned murder a core component of his campaign."

#BlackLivesMatter

And, I'm not responding to any insults from BS supporters.

[George II]

65. Great statement - I think that answers the questions about why him and not the republicans...

...(and no, NOT because the republicans were behind this)

What he's basically saying is that you tell the people who you think are supposed to help and who you hope will help that you're not happy. What good would it be to tell republicans that? They KNOW they're not going to help and they're not interested in helping.

To be honest, I think those two women were a little bit too forceful in that they took over the "event"

[Cha]

72. Yes, it's an eloquent statement on why this person supports #BlackLivesMatter and she makes

an excellent point about why #BlackLivesMatter are protesting Dems and not repubs, George.

I knew this.. but I didn't articulate it so well.

[Number23]

66. God bless Gerald Hankerson.

Thanks for that, Cha.

[Cha]

73. Exactly, 23.. such a sweetheart.

You're welcome.. thank you!

[freshwest]

70. One can factor in who has the power in these things and it wasn't BLM. EOM. n/t

[Cha]

76. Thank you for that, freshwest.. so true.

#BlackLivesMatter

[onehandle]

67. Was the 'Not Hillary' Party there?

Probably.

Was the Democratic Party there?

Probably not.

The single-minded spirit of the Green Party circa 2000, lives.

Nader Super Rally of 15,000:

[shenmue]

123. And we all know how that went

[DCBob]

68. I think Sanders missed another great opportunity on this issue.

All he had to do have the protesters removed by security then spend several minutes addressing their concerns.

[George II]

74. You are 100% correct - he could have stayed there for 15 or even 30 minutes until things died down..

...and THEN addressed the issues that were raised on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, similar to the Phoenix incident ("if you want me to leave I'll leave&quot he simply walked off the podium and left all the questions unanswered.

Even in his later appearance he had a perfect opportunity to address the issues head-on. He made brief mention of what happened earlier, including his usual "no candidate works harder than me". BFD - WHAT are you going to do about THIS?

Two chances (three if you include Phoenix) to address the issue directly, all misses.

[DCBob]

78. Yep, that comment "if you want me to leave, I'll leave" was a mistake.

Which essentially means "FU".

[Ken Burch]

113. They were never going to let him speak, no matter what.

And they wouldn't have accepted anything he said, no matter what.

[Cha]

89. Yes, he did miss another opportunity, DCBob.. from a post I just saw on FB..

snip//

"We need to ask why Sanders, knowing that this isn't wasn't going away anytime soon, wasn't prepared to respond with an acknowledgment that now, in 2015, the U.S. is largely a white supremacist culture. If he wants to win, he needs to earn the votes. To do that, he needs to respond to the concerns of the BLM protesters, and make the fight to dismantle white supremacy and state-sanctioned murder a core component of his campaign."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=505872

[shaayecanaan]

95. Yeah, having them removed by security would have been a sure-fire winner

and he tried to respond, but they wouldn't give the mic back to him.

Rational people blame BLM for the fact that they didn't want to give the mic back to him. Irrational people instead blame Sanders for the fact that he didn't force them to give the mic back to him.

At the end of the day these people are moral agents and they are responsible for their actions just like anyone else. If they didn't want to allow Sanders to respond, then that is on them, not Bernie.

I have to hand it to Bernie, he handled it brilliantly. If anyone thinks that BLM didn't score a huge own goal yesterday, then they have their head up their arse.

[NaturalHigh]

87. "So now are we going to start telling the NAACP that they're wrong, too?"

Are we not allowed to do that?

[Hydra]

88. Of course not

We're not allowed to do lots of things according to the goalpost movers. It's kinda funny, they can't seem to live without adjusting the rules all the time to suit their needs.

[Ken Burch]

103. They had the right to push the issue. The anger came because they were attacking a guy

who had done nothing to deserve their rage.

And it didn't help that they called the whole crowd racist.

A lot of us felt conflicted yesterday...don't assume we're going to bash the NAACP.

[pnwmom]

109. A black WA State Senator in attendance said that the crowd got ugly.

And it made some little girls cry. Very sad.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251506072

[Ken Burch]

110. the disrupters caused the whole thing by baiting the crowd.

How would you expect people to react when you say they're all racists?

You would't have taken that calmly if it was aimed at you.

It's on the disrupters that those kids were scared.

[pnwmom]

111. The time sequence isn't clear on that. What it said in the Seattle Times

was that, after some arguing, the Bernie people agreed to let the BLM go first. Booing ensued. Then the BLM asked for and got 4 minutes of silence to remember the hours Michael lay on the ground. But during that silent period, some people in the crowd were shouting out obscenities. It was after that that the BLM woman made the accusation about liberal racists.

[cascadiance]

127. They were there to inspire DIVISION amongst all of us. Whether that was good they were successful..

... with some people as they knew that human nature is that most people don't respond kindly when being ATTACKED by people. Those that initiated the ATTACK on those of the rest of us there deserved absolutely NO sympathy. And those they claimed they were speaking for when they were speaking hatefully to other people deserve a better voice to represent them, and were done a disservice by those people there that appears their man mission was just creating division, and absolutely not helping ANYONE!!!!

[Armstead]

108. Their message? "You're all a bunch of racists we're going to shut your rally down."

Whatever else they said was just background noise.

Had they requested a minute and read a statement on the issues they claim to be trying to raise, I think the crowd would have been sympathtic, not "ugly."

[William769]

125. Bernie does not response to anything unless it's about him.

That's why his message is so muddled with so many.