Bernie Sanders hires new black press secretary (who supports BLM)

[Tender Branson]

... and is also named "Sanders":

Bernie Sanders Hires Black Lives Matter Supporter as Press Secretary

Symone Sanders is helping the Vermont Senator address racial inequality

When ​Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders last month expressed frustration with the Black Lives Matter protesters who've shut down his rallies, the presidential candidate risked alienating a disenfranchised group of people he has long professed to be aligned with. Activists then criticized Sanders – whose constituency is 95 percent white but who has always been a supporter of civil rights –  and he responded by becoming more vocal in his outcry against police brutality and a need for criminal justice reform. Now he has also hired Symone Sanders, a young black activist and Black Lives Matter supporter, as his campaign's national press secretary, Buzzfeed reports​. She issued her first public statement at a rally at the University of Washington campus on Saturday, giving a passionate speech that pegged Sanders as an ally of the Black Lives Matter movement who will seek to end for-profit prisons and address racial inequality in America.



Symone told Buzzfeed that Sanders hired her three week ago, after she shared some suggestions on how to improve. "One of my suggestions, he took it and ran with it on Meet the Press, is that racial inequality and economic inequality are parallel issues," she said.

She also urged him to shift his focus to "educating America, the community, letting people know who Bernie Sanders is and what he's about," as opposed to "just, 'Oh, I fought for civil rights and I protested and I sat at the lunch counters.' That's important and that's great but that was 50 years ago and he has a lot more to stand on than just what he did 50 years ago."

The campaign has also followed up with a detailed "Racial Justice" page that prioritizes the physical, economic, political, and legal barriers, framed as types of violence, that people of color face.

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/news/a44619/bernie-sanders-symone-sanders

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/08/10/bernie-sanderss-ambassador-to-black-voters-hits-the-ground-running

...

Excellent choice for the coming movement that will derail Hillary's campaign.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Bernie has very effectively dealt with BLM criticism. He's not fallen into any of the traps.

[The Free North]

"I have black friends, I'm not racist"


-The most white thing Bernie could possibly do.

[Marokai Backbeat]

"I have black friends, I'm not racist"


-The most white thing Bernie could possibly do.

If this is how people are actually going to respond then there really is literally nothing Bernie could do.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

"I have black friends, I'm not racist"


-The most white thing Bernie could possibly do.

If this is how people are actually going to respond then there really is literally nothing Bernie could do.

It is and there isn't.

Why they've chosen to tear him apart and give other candidates more of a pass, we'll never know but I have my suspicions.

[Bull Moose Base]

What the hell is everyone talking about? No one is saying Sanders is racist, not even the loonies who crashed his speech. Anyway, his cutting into Hillary's lead among black voters would give him a huge boost.

[Famous Mortimer]

... and is also named "Sanders":

Bernie Sanders Hires Black Lives Matter Supporter as Press Secretary

Symone Sanders is helping the Vermont Senator address racial inequality

When ​Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders last month expressed frustration with the Black Lives Matter protesters who've shut down his rallies, the presidential candidate risked alienating a disenfranchised group of people he has long professed to be aligned with. Activists then criticized Sanders – whose constituency is 95 percent white but who has always been a supporter of civil rights –  and he responded by becoming more vocal in his outcry against police brutality and a need for criminal justice reform. Now he has also hired Symone Sanders, a young black activist and Black Lives Matter supporter, as his campaign's national press secretary, Buzzfeed reports​. She issued her first public statement at a rally at the University of Washington campus on Saturday, giving a passionate speech that pegged Sanders as an ally of the Black Lives Matter movement who will seek to end for-profit prisons and address racial inequality in America.



Symone told Buzzfeed that Sanders hired her three week ago, after she shared some suggestions on how to improve. "One of my suggestions, he took it and ran with it on Meet the Press, is that racial inequality and economic inequality are parallel issues," she said.

She also urged him to shift his focus to "educating America, the community, letting people know who Bernie Sanders is and what he's about," as opposed to "just, 'Oh, I fought for civil rights and I protested and I sat at the lunch counters.' That's important and that's great but that was 50 years ago and he has a lot more to stand on than just what he did 50 years ago."

The campaign has also followed up with a detailed "Racial Justice" page that prioritizes the physical, economic, political, and legal barriers, framed as types of violence, that people of color face.

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/news/a44619/bernie-sanders-symone-sanders

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/08/10/bernie-sanderss-ambassador-to-black-voters-hits-the-ground-running

...

Excellent choice for the coming movement that will derail Hillary's campaign.

Get people educated about who Bernie Sanders is and what he's about? But don't talk about his history with the civil rights movement? How are those two things different? How are they mutually exclusive? "teach people about who you are but don't talk about your personal history or any of the stuff you've done" The criticisms of Bernie Sanders are all ridiculous and all about wording, although the people making them aren't even clear about what kind of wording they want besides his need to shout the bumper sticker slogan "Black Lives Matter"

[Simfan34]

"I have black friends, I'm not racist"


-The most white thing Bernie could possibly do.

If this is how people are actually going to respond then there really is literally nothing Bernie could do.

I agree. I honestly do not understand what the hell is going on. As a black person, I am personally offended by how stupid these people really are.

You're a black person?

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Bernie doesnt have the key endorsement from Congressional blk caucus. Booker and many other blks in Congress support Clinton.

[Cory]

The campaign has also followed up with a detailed "Racial Justice" page that prioritizes the physical, economic, political, and legal barriers, framed as types of violence, that people of color face.

This is great and all, but can we please stop re-defining words? "Rape" and "violence" are becoming the most versatile nouns in the English language and are losing their meaning.

[The Mikado]

More of the typical posturing of Bernie "KKK" Sanders.

[Simfan34]

"I have black friends, I'm not racist"


-The most white thing Bernie could possibly do.

If this is how people are actually going to respond then there really is literally nothing Bernie could do.

I agree. I honestly do not understand what the hell is going on. As a black person, I am personally offended by how stupid these people really are.

You're a black person?

Yes.

From one black Republican to another... being a Trump supporter is a bit too much!

[NeverAgain]

More of the typical posturing of Bernie "KKK" Sanders.

I know, that dirty equality loving, getting arrested for being at a civil rights rallying, dirty evil socialist. Goldwater in '64!

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

More of the typical posturing of Bernie "KKK" Sanders.

I wonder how many members of the klan supported Jesse Jackson for President.

[The Mikado]

More of the typical posturing of Bernie "KKK" Sanders.

I wonder how many members of the klan supported Jesse Jackson for President.

I am sometimes nervous about posting sarcastic things like that because people might take them seriously. I'm glad everyone got that this time.

Sanders is in an odd position and this is a good move for him. Sanders has never tried to appeal to the black vote before. He does need to realize that talk of economic justice rings very hollow to people who are afraid of the real risk of getting murdered by the police to absolutely no consequence, and that the people who are at risk of that happening are disproportionately black.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

This is blatant pandering to blacks and if Clinton did it she'd be attached mercilessly.

[NeverAgain]

This is blatant pandering to blacks and if Clinton did it she'd be attached mercilessly.

If someone took the mic away from Hillary they would be taken out Vince Foster style.

[Simfan34]

This is blatant pandering to blacks and if Clinton did it she'd be attached mercilessly.

Like I said before:

What an unbelievably patronising thread. Hardly any better than the "still on the plantation" rhetoric you hear from the right. The idea that black people will vote for someone just because you show people a couple of pictures of them and Jesse Jackson together is patently absurd and takes the audience for easily swayed simpletons.

It's clear that Sanders' approach to appealing to black voters is highly superficial and will not work.

[Famous Mortimer]

This is blatant pandering to blacks and if Clinton did it she'd be attached mercilessly.

Like I said before:

What an unbelievably patronising thread. Hardly any better than the "still on the plantation" rhetoric you hear from the right. The idea that black people will vote for someone just because you show people a couple of pictures of them and Jesse Jackson together is patently absurd and takes the audience for easily swayed simpletons.

It's clear that Sanders' approach to appealing to black voters is highly superficial and will not work.

Talking about issues doesn't work.

Straight up pandering  doesn't work.

So how DO you win the Black vote?

Apparently the only way is to be related to previous Democratic president and have 100% name recognition.

[DavidB.]

I don't like Sanders, but raising the private prison issue is really legitimate.

[Bull Moose Base]

This is blatant pandering to blacks and if Clinton did it she'd be attached mercilessly.

Like I said before:

What an unbelievably patronising thread. Hardly any better than the "still on the plantation" rhetoric you hear from the right. The idea that black people will vote for someone just because you show people a couple of pictures of them and Jesse Jackson together is patently absurd and takes the audience for easily swayed simpletons.

It's clear that Sanders' approach to appealing to black voters is highly superficial and will not work.

Sanders developing a platform on criminal justice reform, like the hiring of his spokesperson, precedes the interruption of his Seattle speech. It might not be enough- probably not- but it's not superficial nor is it inconsistent with his record. (He and Ted Cruz are probably the most consistent candidates running.) Also, I don't see any sign of black voters at large having any negative feelings about Sanders, as opposed to just being more aware of and positive toward Clinton.

[DrScholl]

This is clearly pandering as already has been said, so I don't need to elaborate. One doesn't win the black vote without having previous experience doing so. Vermont is only 1% Black, which means Sanders has probably encountered very few black voters. When you are an unknown entity to a bloc of voters and only begin to reach out to them when you need their voters, it tends to be a very hard sell.

[Famous Mortimer]

This is clearly pandering as already has been said, so I don't need to elaborate. One doesn't win the black vote without having previous experience doing so. Vermont is only 1% Black, which means Sanders has probably encountered very few black voters. When you are an unknown entity to a bloc of voters and only begin to reach out to them when you need their voters, it tends to be a very hard sell.

No. This is categorically not the reason. Unless you can prove it to me by showing me a way in which Hillary Clinton, who does have experience campaigning to Black people, is better at reaching Black voters than Sanders. Don't just say "she does better" I know that. I'm asking you a concrete example of HOW she's better than Bernie at talking to Black people. Unless you can give me an example of a specific way, it must be assumed that the reason for her success is name recognition/being married to Bill and nothing else.

[Famous Mortimer]

This is clearly pandering as already has been said, so I don't need to elaborate. One doesn't win the black vote without having previous experience doing so. Vermont is only 1% Black, which means Sanders has probably encountered very few black voters. When you are an unknown entity to a bloc of voters and only begin to reach out to them when you need their voters, it tends to be a very hard sell.

The more I read this, the more ridiculous it is. Who reaches out to voters before they run for office? How did Hillary do that? Sanders actually did reach out to Black people long before he ran for office but it was so long ago that people mock him whenever he brings it up. There's literally nothing he can do to please you.

[DrScholl]

This is clearly pandering as already has been said, so I don't need to elaborate. One doesn't win the black vote without having previous experience doing so. Vermont is only 1% Black, which means Sanders has probably encountered very few black voters. When you are an unknown entity to a bloc of voters and only begin to reach out to them when you need their voters, it tends to be a very hard sell.

No. This is categorically not the reason. Unless you can prove it to me by showing me a way in which Hillary Clinton, who does have experience campaigning to Black people, is better at reaching Black voters than Sanders. Don't just say "she does better" I know that. I'm asking you a concrete example of HOW she's better than Bernie at talking to Black people. Unless you can give me an example of a specific way, it must be assumed that the reason for her success is name recognition/being married to Bill and nothing else.

It's all about name recognition, all about that. It's not about being better at talking to black people, it's about reaching voters without looking as if you are pandering or being condescending. Hillary Clinton is not a new name to many voters, including black voters and they know where she stands on most issues. In that sense, she doesn't have to pander.