Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley Failed Their #BlackLivesMatter Test [View all]

[BooScout]

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/122329/bernie-sanders-and-martin-omalley-failed-their-blacklivesmatter-test

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/122329/bernie-sanders-and-martin-omalley-failed-their-blacklivesmatter-test

<snip> Sanders did even worse. Instead of expressing solidarity with the protesters, he talked about his pet issue—economics. He wasn’t “in the room,” and didn’t alter his pitch based on what was happening. “What Sanders should have done, when they said ‘Sandra Bland,’ you say ‘Sandra Bland!’” said political analyst and Blue Nation Review contributor Goldie Taylor, claiming that a simple show of empathy would have disarmed the protest. "He would have shut down the shutdown!"

Artist and activist Janna Zinzi, who was present in the crowd listening to Sanders, agreed. “Can you imagine how the conversation and energy in the room could have changed if he just stopped and said, ‘I'm listening’? That would have given the other white people the message that maybe something legitimate is being communicated and that they should actually listen, too. That would have showed real leadership and basic humanity.”

But Sanders couldn’t get past his mindset: that if you fix economic inequality in America, social justice will naturally follow. Historical experience doesn’t show this; Bland was an educated black woman went to Texas for a job interview and three days later, was found dead in her jail cell. Countries in Europe with high degrees of state spending to reduce inequality continue to have racially motivated problems with immigrant communities. The critique doesn’t hold.