General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I am happy Bernie Sanders added a Racism and Racial Justice plank...however [View all]merrily
(45,251 posts)Government cannot eliminate bigotry, but government racism has got to go. De jure is gone, but de facto must die as well. Bernie is careful to refer to "institutional racism." I think that is because he knows some private individuals are going to be bigots, no matter what, but that's only my interpretation. I don't pretend to speak for him.
However, when government cleans up its act and prominent politicians speak loudly and clearly, the zeitgeist shifts. We saw that after enactment of the Civil Rights Act and after Obama said he was for equal marriage.
I believe Bernie when he says no President will work harder to eliminate institutional racism. I believed that before he added his plank, because of who he is and what he was saying and doing before adding the plank. He spoke out against militarization of police, incarceration, the vote, etc, well before the BLM demonstrations. However, planks are good too. Everything that pushes all of us in a good direction is good.
I am not a churchgoer, but I did have to laugh when I heard this from a televangelist. Something like "Every time you get a charitable impulse, act on it because that God is speaking to you: You know you'd never do that on your own." (His words were punchier than mine, but I don't remember them--and yes, cynics, I totally got why he said it. Try to lighten up for a second.)
It's not entirely true, but there was enough truth about our egocentric natures to make it funny to me. Point is, whatever prods us to do good is probably both good and needed.