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Bernie's embrace of Joe Rogan and the Bros embrace of the alt-right has reminded me that it's time for a timeline of everything Bernie Sanders has done on behalf of civil rights and the liberation of Black people from white supremacy.
1961: Participated in a CORE testing project to verify whether or not the University of Chicago honored its anti-discrimination policy by seeking housing in a university-owned facility. They proved UoC discriminated. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/03/bernie-sanders-uchicago-core-letter/
1962: Participated in a sit-in to protest housing discrimination at UoC.
Participated in a protest at Howard Johnson's https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1962/10/6/core-protests-against-howard-johnson-chain/
Participated in a protest at Howard Johnson's https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1962/10/6/core-protests-against-howard-johnson-chain/
1963: He said he attended the March on Washington. There are no photos, etc. but it's likely true.
Protested against school segregation in Chicago. Arrested. Fined $25.
Protested against school segregation in Chicago. Arrested. Fined $25.
1964: Did not vote
Graduated and moved to New York
Graduated and moved to New York
1965: Nada
1966: Nothing, Did not vote
1967: Nothing
1968: Nothing
Did not vote
Moved to VT
Did not vote
Moved to VT
1969: Nothing
1970: Nothing, Did not Vote
1971: Nothing
1972: Nothing
Ran for governor, voted for himself, lost
Ran for US senator, lost
Ran for governor, voted for himself, lost
Ran for US senator, lost
1973: Nothing
1974: Nothing
Ran for US Senate, lost
Ran for US Senate, lost
1975: Nothing
1976: Nothing
Ran for governor , lost
Ran for governor , lost
1977: Nothing
Resigned from Liberty Union Party
Resigned from Liberty Union Party
1978: Nothing
1979: Nothing
1980: Nothing
Ran for mayor, won
Ran for mayor, won
1981: Endorsed Jesse Jackson
Mayor of Burlington
Mayor of Burlington
1982: Nothing
1983: Nothing
1984: Nothing
1985: Nothing
1986: Nothing
1987: Nothing
1988: Nothing
Ran for US House, lost
Ran for US House, lost
1989: Nothing
1990:: Nothing
Ran for US House, won with NRA help https://theweek.com/speedreads/567392/nra-helped-elect-bernie-sanders-1990
Ran for US House, won with NRA help https://theweek.com/speedreads/567392/nra-helped-elect-bernie-sanders-1990
1991: Nothing
In US House
Did not introduce a single bill on civil rights
In US House
Did not introduce a single bill on civil rights
1992: in House, did not introduce a single bill on civil rights
1993: Did not introduce a single bill addressing civil rights
1994: Did not introduce a single bill addressing civil rights
1995: Did not introduce a single bill addressing civil rights
1996: Nothing
1997: Introduced a bill to protect victims of domestic violence from insurance discrimination
1998: Nothing on behalf of minoritized people, but came out in favor of Sierra Blanca site. Met with Sierra Club but they did not change his mind. https://libcom.org/history/1996-8-sierra-blanca-community-opposes-nuclear-waste-site
1999: Nothing on Civil Rights, but he did vote for Sierra Blanca Waste Disposal site
2000: Nothing on Civil Rights, but Sierra Blanca turned out to offer financial benefits to Jane Sanders https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/4/16/1516075/-Sanders-are-still-profiting-from-Sierra-Blanca-nuclear-waste-dump-per-their-2014-tax-return
2001: Nothing
2002: Nothing
2003: Nothing
2004: Zero, Zip, Zilch
2005: Nothing, Runs for Senate
2006: Nothing, Runs for Senate, wins
2007: His first year in the Senate, does nothing on civil rights, but he does kill immigration reform. Gave anti-immigrant bigot interview with Lou Dobbs.
2008: Nothing
He does endorse Obama when it was down to HRC v Obama
He does endorse Obama when it was down to HRC v Obama
2009: Nothing
Heads up left opposition to ACA/Obama
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/6835579/Barack-Obama-faces-backlash-from-Left-over-health-care.html
Heads up left opposition to ACA/Obama
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/6835579/Barack-Obama-faces-backlash-from-Left-over-health-care.html
2010: Nothing
2011: Nothing for minoritized people, but he did introduce a resolution saying corporations are not people, my friend.
2012: Nothing, though he did want Obama to have a primary challenge. He started advocating for primary challenge in 2011 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/evanmcsan/the-obama-campaign-remembers-2012-very-differently-from-bern
2013: Nothing
2014: Nothing
2015: Nothing
Though he did hire his first Black employee, not for his staff but for his campaign
Though he did hire his first Black employee, not for his staff but for his campaign
2016: Nothing, though he did say identity politics were a distraction & Democrats should ignore the votes from the "Deep South" because they are red states. Did not say the same about OK, ID, NE, etc.
2017: Nothing, you would think after losing the Black vote so decisively he might sponsor one bill or resolution, but no.
2018: Nothing
2019: Nothing - you would think he would do one just because he was running for president, but nope, not even interested enough to pretend to be interested
2020: Nothing so far
though he has embraced Joe Rogan who uses racist epithets and compares Black people to apes & even retweeted Rogan
though he has embraced Joe Rogan who uses racist epithets and compares Black people to apes & even retweeted Rogan
Now there are non-legislative things he has done such as saying guns in VT are not the same as guns in Chicago, erasing Conyers entire history of introducing Medicare For All for years, turning people against BLM, campaigning for white anti-choice man vs. Native American woman
He's said that it's not racist to vote for Trump, that white people in MS who voted so overwhelmingly against Obama were not racist, argued that economics is the solution to racism (A BIG FAT DAMAGING LIE)
I can think of dozens of things Bernie has done that have been detrimental to people of color due to his dismissal of identity politics, his gun positions, and his crime positions. But this is what he did to advance civil rights and that's not much
I block 45K folks, mostly Berners, so you're welcome to copy and paste your own thread if you want Berners to see it. I feel no "ownership" of what is public information.
