The one chance that Bernie Sanders has left in this race, the closest race in party history besides 2008, is to win California. If he wins in one of the most Democratic states of the union, then he can make the argument to the superdelegates that he is the better candidate against Donald Trump. Polls are continuing to show that he does better against Trump than Hillary Clinton does. If he pulls off the unlikely win in California, then by all means, he should take the fight to the convention. We were divided in 2008, but that did not stop us from coming together afterwards. The superdelegates’ votes do not become final until the convention. But if he loses, then he needs to call it a day.
There are three considerations guiding this thinking. The first is that we should not treat Bernie, or any candidate for that matter, as a cult of personality incapable of doing wrong. We should unite around the New Deal and the Civil Rights Movement, not any particular candidate. The second is based on Bernie’s own words — the most important thing for us is to beat Donald Trump, who would set back civil rights in this country by decades. The third is the fact that I support Black Lives Matter as well as Bernie Sanders. More on that below.
As I stated above, we cannot form a cult of personality around any candidate. While our country was ostensibly formed on the principles of freedom and democracy, it was founded on the backs of Blacks and Native Americans. We can’t just look at the Obama presidency and claim that our job is done and that we have achieved equality. Early on in his campaign, Bernie made a critical mistake by not reaching out enough to Blacks and Latinos; he did not do so until the Seattle protests (which shut down his speech) forced his hand. This is the sort of thing that cost him the South, a part of the country that Obama won in 2008. He did much better after his hand was forced, to be fair. He brought on board several Black and minority activists and he was spot on in his critique of the Flint Water Crisis; he did 50-50 there when he struggled in most other places with a heavy Black population. The lesson is that it is not enough to tout one’s credentials as part of the Civil Rights Movement; one has to form long-term relationships with key players, something that the Clintons have done a lot of over the years.
Given all this, if I have to choose between Black Lives Matter and Bernie Sanders, I have to choose Black Lives Matter. Our country was formed on the backs of Blacks and Native Americans; in order to make things right, we have to fight white privilege wherever we find it. I have to fight it when I see it in myself as a white person; we have to fight it within Bernie’s ranks as well as Hillary’s ranks. We have to fight it within the party. We are not entitled to Black votes just because Donald Trump is so horrible in that area.
There is a mentality among certain Bernie or Bust types that Donald Trump is not such a horrible candidate, that Hillary would be worse or equivalent, and that he doesn’t really mean what he says. That was the same sort of mistake that people made when Hitler rose to power; we cannot afford that risk with Donald Trump even though I don’t buy that he is equivalent to Hitler. I call it white privilege. It is white privilege to ignore the fact that Donald Trump will appoint judges who will make forced pregnancy the law of the land. It is white privilege to ignore the fact that Donald Trump will create a massive police state and round up and deport all 11 million immigrants he deems to be “illegal.” It is white privilege to ignore the fact that Donald Trump will create such a climate of fear against Muslims that there will be rampant violence and hate crimes against them.
For all the bad things I have said about Hillary, she has one redeeming quality (among others) — the fact that she has a chance to become the first woman President will speak volumes about the progress that this country has made. It will improve our chances to pass the Equal Rights Amendment and it will inspire millions of young girls and show them that it is possible to become President of the United States in our country. A Hillary presidency will force us to confront the inequality that women still face in this country in the same way that the Obama presidency forced us to confront the continued reality of police brutality, inequality, and segregation. The key point that Bernie Sanders missed is that inequality, while serious, is merely a symptom; it affects the Black community disproportionately. The fact that we created this country on the backs of Blacks and Native Americans is the root cause of the inequality that Bernie Sanders rightly decries. Before it became the nerve center for the 1%, Wall Street was a key trading center for slavery in New York and this country.
For these reasons, if Bernie loses California, then I will shift my efforts towards beating Donald Trump in the fall election. That doesn’t mean I won’t hold Hillary accountable; I will. But those of us living in the Reality Based Community have to keep it real; to do otherwise is white privilege. And silence means consent.