On Bernie and #BlackLivesMatter
Last Saturday, Bernie Sanders was invited to speak in Seattle on the topic of Medicare and Social Security, and the event was shut down by local Black Lives Matter activists when they took the stage and wouldn’t give it back. Much has been written about it — this is a nice writeup about the aftermath by one of the event organizers.
Unsurprisingly, most attendees left very upset and disappointed. Many had waited for hours for a chance to hear Sanders speak (as I did, with my family, when he came to Portland, Maine, with my kids who were more than a little annoyed with their lesson in civic responsibility). His quixotic campaign has made him the leader of a nascent renaissance of progressive politics in America.
As a progressive, I’ve been increasingly frustrated by our country’s seemingly unstoppable ratchet to the right — the Tea Party gets taken seriously and drags the Republicans along with them to the point of ridiculousness, and the Democrats follow by filling in the void left for centrists. Progressives are left choosing the lesser of two evils and choosing a milquetoast centrist like Barak Obama or Bill Clinton. I know that I’m not alone, and I know that people who had long given up on the political process have been re-energized by Sanders’ campaign.
Sanders supporters I’ve spoken with and see in online forums view corporatism as a very real, grave threat to American democracy. It sounds hyperbolic, but many of us see the Sanders campaign as our best shot at saving the country from eventual ruin ushered in by money in politics and Citizens United. And that is why we are so passionate about him — probably to a fault.
The reaction to the attendees’ disappointment has been interesting. Many think that it was an epic tactical blunder, and frankly, I agreed. A few who I’ve engaged with sided with the activists. I wanted to know why. I hope that you’ll indulge me in unfairly setting up this straw-man to represent those conversations — they seem to go something like this:
Me: So, do you think it was a good idea to hijack his rally though? I mean, all those people will be upset and they’re generally sympathetic…
Them: Those people are part of the problem and don’t realize how grave the problem is. They’re lucky to be able to meet and not worry about being in danger
Me: Yes, for sure. And progressives need to do more than stick a sign in their lawn and call it done-they need to speak up and join rallys and demand real change. But don’t you think that kicking Bernie off the stage will only alienate people? Like… shouldn’t the point be to get more allies and participation? Was this really a good idea?
Them: You don’t understand. As an entitled person, you don’t get to live in their shoes and feel what it’s like to be a PoC.
Me: You’re right. I probably don’t. I am privileged and born with the “right” gender and “right” skin color. But why target arguably the most progressive candidate in the race? Have you read his record on civil rights? Was this really a good idea?
Them: You don’t get to tell oppressed people how and when to demand their rights. That’s a privilege of being the oppressor.
Me: Yeah, I can see that. I haven’t lived that and felt that rage and frustration and impatience. But what I’m trying to say is that if you want allies, this just seemed like the wrong way to do it. I’m not dictating, I guess, I just wonder… was this a good idea?
Them: Your Messiah Bernie thinks we can eliminate racism by addressing economic inequality and it just isn’t true. He’s out of touch.
Me: Mmm, OK. I see. So we need to convince him of that. I agree, I mean- look at the 1950s when union membership was high, wages were fair, taxes were more progressive, and we still had Jim Crow laws. You’re right. So how do we do that? By interrupting his attempt to connect with potential allies? Was that a good idea?
Them: They’re not allies. They’re just as racist as the conservatives. And you’re one of them.
Me: What? Really? Like-the confederate flag-waving kind? You’d really rather have their guy in the White House?
Them: At least it’s honest. We’re really tired of hearing you and your group’s opinion and yours is yet another whiny white guy. Get over yourself. STFU and listen for once.
Me: OK. I’m listening. Was hijacking Bernie’s rally a good idea?
It seems like to one side, the point is that we should “all just try to get along” and work for incremental change. The other side is tired of playing nice and wants to raise hell to call attention to what is among the most important issues (if not the most important) of our nation’s current landscape — Black lives have less worth than white lives. The police are killing our own citizens. People live in fear of the cops who should be protecting them. That’s clearly unacceptable and it’s clearly still unaddressed after literally hundreds of years of waiting. Who would blame anyone who gets even angrier at being told to be nice, and wait even longer?
One side, the privileged side, wants to talk about tactics. The other wants to bring the gravity of the situation to light. How do we resolve that without imploding?
Bernie has made some changes which are probably too little and too late to please anyone. He’s hired an African American press secretary. He’s introduced new planks to his platform to address racial inequality. I suppose the good news is that he has proven he can listen — he is not tone deaf and he can adjust his message based on feedback from a population that looks very different than his home state of Vermont.
My fear is that the infighting plays so well to the other side — whether you believe the “other side” is the GOP, or a corporate-sponsored focus-group candidate like Hillary Clinton. Perhaps I’m paranoid. Maybe Bernie really doesn’t stand a chance anyway. Probably I should just face the inevitability of President Jeb Bush in 2016 and more war and widening inequity and increasing poverty (although this poll gives me hope). But I’m unwilling to sit on my hands and accept that outcome just yet.
