A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.

11 August 2015

Black Lives Matter wants Bernie to bow down to identity politics

Black Lives Matter’s targeting of Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton or a Republican has nothing to do with exploiting opportunities for disruption that were made possible by lax security at the Netroots conference and the Westlake rally for Social Security. That’s a plausible hypothesis, but it’s wrong.

Nor is BLM targeting Sanders because he’s the least progressive candidate for the Democratic nomination. Actually, he’s the most progressive, especially on crime and punishment. He opposes private prisons, believes too many people are being thrown in jail, opposes the militarization of police forces, and wants to stop violence by police. Those are positions with which BLM agrees.

But Sanders doesn’t practice identity politics. He’s an old-time, largely colorblind progressive who’s honest on the stump. He proposes economic reforms that help everyone, especially poor people. That’s why he’s drawing large crowds. And that’s why BLM’s stage storming thugs hate him. He isn’t part of BLM’s identity cohort.

Here’s Allison Kaplan Sommer writing for Haaretz:

But one wonders if the problem also lies not in what Sanders says, but who he is. In an age of identity politics, is the fact that an elderly, white, straight “privileged” male has evolved into the face of progressive politics in America seen as a slap in the face to minorities — another piece of evidence that their lives, faces, and stories, don’t matter?

That’s an astute observation. BLM wants Sanders to bow down to identity politics, to explicitly reject colorblind solutions to America’s ills, and to assert that racism is the most important political issue, and the most important by far. BLM is seizing opportunities to trample on the rights of audiences wanting to hear Sanders speak, but above all it’s engaging in calculated disrespect that’s intended to humble and humiliate Sanders, and to tell his white supporters that they’re racists, white supremacists, and the past of the Democratic Party.

If this continues, I believe it guarantees that John Kasich or Scott Walker will be our next President.