I only get into trouble on DU when I try to get to what's real.

[ellennelle]

22. how can you say this??

bernie has been actively championing civil rights since before you were born! his voting record on these issues is impeccable! what else do you want him to do, paint himself black?

i mean no disrespect, and like so many others - bernie included - am sickened to the marrow at what has been happening to the black community, most especially since obama was elected. i am not black, but i sincerely, honestly, and truly ache for the society that allows this hatred and villainizing to consume us. no one wins when there is even one lose.

that said, we must all take care not to villainize anyone; you then become the very enemy you're trying to quell. as dr. king said so eloquently (of course, even his sighs were eloquent), we have to keep our eyes on the ball. our goal is not to control or take power over or prevail over whites; to do so simply puts blacks in the nasty position of cops and prison guards, and because we are all only human, the temptation to abuse that position of power is almost impossible to withstand (see the new film about the zimbardo experiments).

no, ultimately the goal is to make peace. we have to keep our eyes on that ball. in so doing, we all win.

this, i think, has always been bernie's MO. he has kept a very low profile, just getting things done. consequently, there is no reason why the black community can know anything about him and his impeachable principles and record in favor of the black community. he knows, and has said as much - JUST AS DR. KING KNEW AND SAID - that the race issue is ultimately an economic class issue. never forget this fact. and work to educate everyone in all communities of this fact, and the prevailing fact that bernie is the best candidate to prioritize these issues from the WH.

meanwhile, please don't misinterpret these words as minimizing what communities of color suffer each day; even just the fear factor horrifies me. all i'm trying to say is, when we recognize - as dr. king did and bernie has, as well - that issues of race are fundamentally issues of economic class, of the dominance of wealth for the sake of wealth, our numbers explode to the unified front that is required to correct the problems.