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Bernie Sanders' idea of revolution is not believable without reparations Bernie Sanders' idea of revolution is not believable without reparations
(1 day later)
Bernie Sanders’ revolutionary vision is good at detecting the ills of Wall Street – but it clearly does not perceive racism. The senator regularly conflates race and class issues, but addressing class oppression won’t magically erase white supremacy. By insisting that it will, Sanders reveals a longing for a post-racial society that (commendably) cares deeply about the poor but does nothing to address how economies are racialized, gendered and made to benefit the able-bodied.Bernie Sanders’ revolutionary vision is good at detecting the ills of Wall Street – but it clearly does not perceive racism. The senator regularly conflates race and class issues, but addressing class oppression won’t magically erase white supremacy. By insisting that it will, Sanders reveals a longing for a post-racial society that (commendably) cares deeply about the poor but does nothing to address how economies are racialized, gendered and made to benefit the able-bodied.
When Senator Bernie Sanders was asked last week whether he would consider reparations for slavery, he responded: “No, I don’t think so. First of all, its likelihood of getting through Congress is nil. Second of all, I think it would be very divisive. The real issue is when we look at the poverty rate among the African American community, when we look at the high unemployment rate within the African American community, we have a lot of work to do”.When Senator Bernie Sanders was asked last week whether he would consider reparations for slavery, he responded: “No, I don’t think so. First of all, its likelihood of getting through Congress is nil. Second of all, I think it would be very divisive. The real issue is when we look at the poverty rate among the African American community, when we look at the high unemployment rate within the African American community, we have a lot of work to do”.
It is curious that Sanders, who many have written off as too radical and unelectable, is concerned with “the likelihood of getting (policy proposals) through Congress” and appearing “divisive” when it comes to issues affecting black Americans. As The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates noted in response to Sanders’ comments, the Senator’s own proposals are similarly unlikely and divisive without the “revolution” he promises to bring to Washington.It is curious that Sanders, who many have written off as too radical and unelectable, is concerned with “the likelihood of getting (policy proposals) through Congress” and appearing “divisive” when it comes to issues affecting black Americans. As The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates noted in response to Sanders’ comments, the Senator’s own proposals are similarly unlikely and divisive without the “revolution” he promises to bring to Washington.
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But underlying the apparent pragmatism Sanders cites is a flawed understanding of race. For Sanders, it is a mere assemblage of effects. Sanders can understand how race is a factor in things like prison sentencing disparities, for example, but he doesn’t understand how race becomes a factor in the first place, nor how it remains one. He can note that there are differences in how black and brown people are treated by law enforcement, but he cannot bring himself to believe in the feasibility of a plan that addresses why.But underlying the apparent pragmatism Sanders cites is a flawed understanding of race. For Sanders, it is a mere assemblage of effects. Sanders can understand how race is a factor in things like prison sentencing disparities, for example, but he doesn’t understand how race becomes a factor in the first place, nor how it remains one. He can note that there are differences in how black and brown people are treated by law enforcement, but he cannot bring himself to believe in the feasibility of a plan that addresses why.
Without confronting the lasting damage slavery and its offspring inflicted (and continue to inflict) on black communities, racial disparities will always exist – even within separate classes. But Sanders is either unwilling or unable to see how this is so.Without confronting the lasting damage slavery and its offspring inflicted (and continue to inflict) on black communities, racial disparities will always exist – even within separate classes. But Sanders is either unwilling or unable to see how this is so.
Racism evolves over time. Take how it has impacted what reparations would mean. Originally proposed to cover the debts owed to black people for slavery, any true solution must also address the new ways of systematically damaging black communities that followed, from Jim Crow, redlining and beyond. Well-meaning white people and their failures to seriously confront a racist system from which they benefit have not escaped this evolution either – a product of white supremacy, they find new ways of perpetuating inequality.Racism evolves over time. Take how it has impacted what reparations would mean. Originally proposed to cover the debts owed to black people for slavery, any true solution must also address the new ways of systematically damaging black communities that followed, from Jim Crow, redlining and beyond. Well-meaning white people and their failures to seriously confront a racist system from which they benefit have not escaped this evolution either – a product of white supremacy, they find new ways of perpetuating inequality.
Even as many white people are now moving away from the problematic claim of not “seeing race” to acknowledging it, countless still refuse to recognize how racial hierarchies are constructed. They have remained “more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice”, as Martin Luther King Jr charged in his Letter From a Birmingham Jail. These insidious attempts to hide the roots of white supremacy deeper must end; especially as The Movement for Black Lives continues to expose them and their logical failings.Even as many white people are now moving away from the problematic claim of not “seeing race” to acknowledging it, countless still refuse to recognize how racial hierarchies are constructed. They have remained “more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice”, as Martin Luther King Jr charged in his Letter From a Birmingham Jail. These insidious attempts to hide the roots of white supremacy deeper must end; especially as The Movement for Black Lives continues to expose them and their logical failings.
A true commitment to racial justice on the part of white people, then, takes the deeply difficult work of completely giving up a system that is made for them. To get there, “divisive” race talk is desirable and necessary.A true commitment to racial justice on the part of white people, then, takes the deeply difficult work of completely giving up a system that is made for them. To get there, “divisive” race talk is desirable and necessary.
If you don’t “see” race, you cannot perceive the existence of racial disparities. If you know these disparities exist you must make up for what caused their plight: slavery and its progeny. You must, in other words, commit to reparations.If you don’t “see” race, you cannot perceive the existence of racial disparities. If you know these disparities exist you must make up for what caused their plight: slavery and its progeny. You must, in other words, commit to reparations.
This logic may not sway well-meaning white people. What remains a constant among many in America is the commitment to a white supremacist system and a resistance to any radical vision it would take to overthrow it. Senator Sanders may one day break that commitment. And when he does, maybe his “revolution” will be more believable.This logic may not sway well-meaning white people. What remains a constant among many in America is the commitment to a white supremacist system and a resistance to any radical vision it would take to overthrow it. Senator Sanders may one day break that commitment. And when he does, maybe his “revolution” will be more believable.