Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was forced to leave a Seattle, Washington rally without speaking after protesters claiming to represent the Black Lives Matter movement stormed the stage and took the microphone from the Democratic presidential hopeful.
‘I think it is unfortunate because among other things I wanted to talk about the issues of black lives,’ Sanders said following the interrupted rally.
‘They didn’t want to hear anything.’
(Huffington Post, August 8, 2015)
Trust me folks, when it comes to championing policies for the national advancement of Black people, Bernie Sanders makes both Hillary and Bill Clinton look like right-wing Republicans.
Yet these Black nincompoops have decided Bernie is a racist simply because he properly refused to chant, “Black lives matter,” when they commanded him to do so. They imposed this impudent and ignorant litmus test on him at a Netroots Nation event in Phoenix last month.
These activists have appointed themselves the arbiters of what constitutes support for criminal justice and racial equality. But they are too self-righteous and self-obsessed to realize that they are alienating the very Whites they need to help them advance these causes. Whites, I might add, who would like nothing more than to establish common cause with them. It would make some political sense, for example, if these gorilla campaigners were gatecrashing the campaign rallies of Republican candidates in this fashion.
Ironically, as things stand, Blacks like these – who bum-rushed Bernie in Seattle tonight – are to the Black Lives Matter movement what Donald Trump is to the Republican Party: a bullying, embarrassing and self-aggrandizing distraction.
They need to get over themselves. But more than that, Black leaders need to denounce these buffoons the way Republican leaders are finally denouncing Trump.
Except that I fear the Clintons have already co-opted Black leaders – who are probably happy to have minorities think Bernie is a racist to get them to vote for Hillary. These are the same Black leaders, after all, who tried in 2007 to have Blacks think Barack Obama is not “Black enough.” Remember the self-hating spectacle of former UN ambassador and Atlanta mayor Andrew Young declaring that Bill is blacker than Barack…?
But, like Barack did in 2008, Bernie must defy and overcome their pro-Hillary schemes to win the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. And running off stage every time Black activists challenge him won’t do. Instead, he must stand his ground and educate them.
In the meantime, though, it behooves Bernie to inform Blacks and Hispanics nationwide about his bona fides as a civil rights pioneer and long-time crusader for criminal justice and racial equality. And I urge him to do so … by any means necessary.
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Bill blacker than Barack…
* This commentary was originally published yesterday, Saturday, at 10:46 p.m.