Ta-Nehisi Coates: Why Precisely Is Bernie Sanders Against Reparations?

[Armstead]

103. Let me take a swing at this

Yes Bernie is going after big goals. Most of them are stretching the rigid envelope that has been established by both parties.

Yes, many Democrats dismiss Bernies ideas as "unrealistic."

Yes, Bernie and many of his supporters realize some of therm are longshots.

But -- even though he is stretching the envelope, he is not breaking it. There is also the matter of how he will spend his "political capital" both to get elected and to govern.

He is going after things that he believes ate ultimately possible because there is either an overt support for them and/or latent support. How many Democrats, for example, say they like Bernie's ideas, but they are "not achievable?" ....It is not inconceivable that this could be translated into active support for those ideas with some pushing and the right circumstances.

Reparations does not fall into that category. It does not strike a lot of people as the way to break the bonds of racism and the problems associated with it. They see different ways to achieve the same goals.

It can certainly be debated. And, perhaps over time there could be more widespread support and the political will, to do that. But it is nowhere close to that at this point. And if Bernie were to add that to his platform....it would be very alienating to many, even those who are supporter of his overall "socialist" (liberal) goals.

You would be hard pressed to find any politician building a platform around reparations. To single out Bernie for criticism for that is misguided.