2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Kos: A Black Man's take on NN/BLM dustup: "Black Folks No on Bernie? Really?" [View all]tea and oranges
(396 posts)It makes no sense for BLM to confront Republicans - they don't listen & twist everything. But as you said, Team Bernie can (and will) learn from this.
I know Sanders' record & have for some time, he's an amazing candidate, yet I found myself wondering, watching the dust up, when the last time Bernie, actually spoke w/ black activists, not just the polished & professional people of color in Washington, DC. That he needs to do so is more than obvious.
(I concur, we only need to look back as far as HRC's campaign against BHO to find racism on her part.)
A phrase that's often in my mind is "the politics of resentment." The more reason a group has to be resentful, the more heavily they're policed & cracked down upon. This leads to counter-resentment on the part of the authoritarian ptb & the people they dog-whistle to. This ugly circle keeps the country embroiled in hatred, anger, & fear.
It keeps poc in constant fear for their lives. Any encounter w/ cops can quickly become lethal as we know & have seen demonstrated again & again. BLM wants the legal lynching to stop. If we don't approve of their tactics, too bad. They're in a learning curve, & you know what, so are we!
Let our candidate be challenged now, it will only make him stronger.
BLM having their own forum is an excellent idea!