By request...some comments from Bernie Sanders 2014 NPR Interview

[Chitown Kev]

Number 23 requested that I remind people of NPR's 2014 Interview with Bernie Sanders...I will only be commenting, briefly, on the bolded portions:

On why he says Democrats are losing white voters

Well, I am focusing on the fact that whether you’re white or black or Hispanic or Asian, if you are in the working class, you are struggling to keep your heads above water. You’re worried about your kids. What should the Democratic Party be talking about, Steve? What they should be talking about is a massive federal jobs program. There was once a time when our nation’s infrastructure — roads, bridges, water systems, rail — were the envy of the world. Today that’s no longer the case.

I would say if you go out on the street and you talk to people and say, “Which is the party of the American working class?” People would look to you like you were a little bit crazy, they wouldn’t know what you were talking about, and they certainly wouldn’t identify the Democrats.

On African-American support for Democrats

Well, here’s what you got. What you got is an African-American president, and the African-American community is very very proud that this country has overcome racism and voted for him for president. And that’s kind of natural. You’ve got a situation where the Republican Party has been strongly anti-immigration, and you’ve got a Hispanic community which is looking to the Democrats for help, but that’s not important.

You should not be basing your politics based on your color. What you should be basing your politics on is, ‘how is your family doing?’ … In the last election, in state after state, you had an abysmally low vote for the Democrats among white, working class people. And I think the reason for that is that the Democrats have not made it clear that they are prepared to stand with the working class people of this country, take on the big money interests. I think the key issue that we have to focus on, and I know people are uncomfortable about talking about it, is the role of the billionaire class in American society.

What you got is an African-American president, and the African-American community is very very proud that this country has overcome racism and voted for him for president. Personally, I think this is poorly stated. I get the gist of what Sanders attempted to say here. Inarticulately stated, though.

You’ve got a situation where the Republican Party has been strongly anti-immigration, and you’ve got a Hispanic community which is looking to the Democrats for help, but that’s not important. Uh, yes that IS important...otherwise, the Dems would not be getting the share of the Latino vote that they have been getting. Remember, George W. Bush was able to get a decent share of the Latino vote but his own party rebelled against him when Mr. Bush attempted to handle the immigration bill.

You should not be basing your politics based on your color In an ideal world, I would agree with that sentiment but many white people that now vote republican, white people, do vote based on their their color and vote to uphold white supremacy as opposed to voting for their economic interests. White supporters are not supporting Donald Trump because he has favored single-payer health care in the past.

In the last election, in state after state, you had an abysmally low vote for the Democrats among white, working class people. And I think the reason for that is that the Democrats have not made it clear that they are prepared to stand with the working class people of this country, take on the big money interests. To put it bluntly, many white working class people vote that way because of racism and Sanders was either clueless or simply didn't care about that well-documented fact. These white-working class people didn't seem to mind that many (if not most) blacks got a raw deal on The New Deal.

Now I agree with Mr. Sanders that the Democrats don't do enough to uphold the interests of the working class; hell, I don't think that the Democrats, by and large, do enough to uphold the causes of racial/gender justice.

But we really don't need to look very far to find the source of the the idea expressed in this abominable thread.

Sanders, himself, has articulated a version of this very idea.

And I have heard many white progressives lament the loss of the "working, hard working American, white American vote" while, at the same time, purposefully ignoring the black/brown elephant in that particular room..