Note: this was originally published on 5/30/20
Typically I’m hesitant to discuss politics with others and even more hesitant to tell people that I support Bernie Sanders. People tell me that he’s a radical visionary and the democratic socialism that he endorses was only feasible in the Nordic countries due to their vastly different cultural and socioeconomic traits. And perhaps they are right. Perhaps his policies will never suit a country as diverse and unique as America. And while his vision is compelling on paper, its executability may be severely lacking in comparison.
But does it even matter at the end? When was the last time a candidate successfully carried out most of his promises? Are we not holding him to a higher standard when there are other politicians freely spewing lies because we are too busy scrutinizing a man who has been protesting police brutality and segregation since the 1960s? Maybe I’m too naive but the one thing that matters to me most about a politician is his integrity and consistency. In 1959, when running to become his high school class president in Brooklyn he had promised to set up scholarship funds for Korean war orphans (he lost but the winner adopted the idea and made it happen). In 1961, when off-campus buildings owned by the University of Chicago refused to rent to black students, he organized a two-week sit-in at the president’s office demanding an investigation for discrimination. In 1962, he led a picket of a Howard Johnson’s restaurant in Chicago, as part of a coordinated nationwide protest against the restaurant chain’s racially discriminatory policies. In 1963, he was fined $25 for resisting arrest after protesting segregationist policies in Chicago’s public schools.
To go into more detail, although every black classroom in Chicago was filled past capacity, there were 382 white classrooms completely vacant. However, the mayor at the time along with the school superintendent, insisted on putting up shoddy trailers in parking lots and playgrounds to address the overflow of black students rather than making use of the available space reserved for white students. As the city was about to install these “Willis Wagon” trailers, a group of interracial activists chained themselves together and stood in front of bulldozers. Bernie, seeing this, also chained himself to them, standing side by side with black women, refusing to budge.
In the 1970s, during a period in which he ran for governor of Vermont and as a candidate fo US senator, Bernie continued to fight for the underprivileged and the underrepresented. In 1974 specifically, he campaigned in a local prison to speak forcefully about racial disparities in the criminal justice system and contested that the government “doesn’t give a shit about black people” during a talk about desegregation busing. In 1993, when no one batted an eye about gay rights, he was making appearances on CNN defending gay soldiers.
Time and time again Bernie has been a fervent supporter of the disadvantaged and it’s disheartening to see his opposition dismiss him as a disillusioned socialist that is antonymous to the founding principles of this country. And perhaps he isn’t the best fit and there are others who are just as qualified, just as honest, with more pragmatic approaches that resonate with the public.
But regardless of whether Bernie is a suitable leader for America, the one thing that’s clear is that the current president possesses neither tact nor intelligence to unify us through various economic societal turmoils. My personal stance regarding riots and violent protests is that they bring more harm than good, but that’s also a selfish statement to make because I’ve never faced similar levels of racism and discomfort as black people. I will never fully comprehend the systemic bullshit black people have to face on a daily basis and the intergenerational legacy of trauma and poverty caused by slavery. But for Trump to regard these people as “thugs” and threatening that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” is outrageous. This is the type of a man that remained silent for weeks as COVID-19 was slowly creeping up on us, but as soon as a social media platform censors his statements, he issues an executive order to “defend free speech from one of the gravest dangers it has faced in American history.”
Listen, I have my fair share of reservations about Biden, but no one can be worse than Trump. And Bernie, is he a radical? No he’s an incrementalist, because he knows it’s those revolutionary ideas that drive change in the world, even if it’s little by little. Just like how his ideas are seen too radical currently, he faced similar resistance at the beginning of his mayorship in Burlington in the 1980s, but there’s a reason why he served 4 consecutive terms with increasingly wide margins (43% in 1981, 52% in 1983, 55% in 1985, 56% in 1987). He genuinely cares about the well-being of people regardless of their background and I pray to God that this country can be led by an individual that exhibits just as much passion, persistence, and intelligence.
RIP Jacob Blake