Bernie Sanders Is Not Helping

Bernie Sanders supporters, let me speak plainly. There is historic distrust between the economic left (socialist wing) and the civil rights movement. This distrust is rooted in the economic left's frequent detours into overt racism on behalf of the white working class that goes back generations.

In the 2000's America had two significant pushes for immigration reform, once under George W. and again under Obama. Obviously the extreme right/freedom caucus would have none of it. But neither would the economic left wing. Not only was Bernie not an ally to Hispanic labor, he was overtly hostile towards it and was an ally of racist dog-whistlers such as Lou Dobbs, etc. This is why Dolores Huerta was so hostile towards Bernie in the last election and why Bernie, in response, treated the concerns of Hispanic labor and leaders like Dolores Huerta with open hostility. The treatment that Dolores Huerta received from Bernie and his supporters here in California was frankly, disgusting - worse than Trump and Trump supporters.

On top of this are the concerns of voters for whom Hillary represented a major advancement of the concerns of women. At this moment the Sanders base, as far as I can tell, is more interested in telling Hillary to shut up and leave public life than say, Steve Bannon. The democratic base, on the whole, still see Hillary's accomplishment as the first woman to receive a major nomination and win millions more votes than her opponent as a landmark for women's empowerment. To be told that they and their champion should 'shut up' and that their concerns are not important is not likely to bring a sense of unity. To do so at a moment in time when misogyny is making a worldwide comeback is doubly wrong-headed.

My point is this. The historic tension between the concerns of the civil rights coalition and the economic left have never been more frayed. Telling Hillary to shut up and shaming her from public life merely exacerbates this tension. Watching Bernie's role in this leaves me in a position of supporting key elements of his platform but wishing, very much, that Bernie and his 1950's white savior complex would exit stage left. Frankly, if Bernie were to join Hillary in leaving aside Presidential politics I would be very happy. It's time for a new generation to take the reigns. We need some folks who understand the divide we're in and how to heal these open wounds. Point blank, Bernie shows no signs of healing them and only pours his energy into exacerbating them. He's not helping, he's hurting.