Many Sanders supporters called it shameful to boo the March on Washington. And to be fair, no candidate – including Joe Biden, who referenced the tragedy in Charlottesville in his campaign announcement video – has offered a bold plan to prevent violence and protect communities targeted by white nationalists and white supremacists – black people, Muslims, immigrants, Jews.
Women of color and black voters need specific proposals about meeting this scourge. No candidate will win over black voters or women of color in 2020 unless they can respond with authentic understanding and address the rise of white supremacist violence that many of us cannot escape. Sanders’ failure to meet the moment at the She the People forum is a mistake that Democrats running for president have made for too long.
Sanders had an opportunity last week to connect with women of color by drawing on shared experiences. As a Jewish man, he could have pointed to the specific threats that Jews have faced from white nationalists. He could have directly connected the Poway synagogue and Tree of Life attacks with church burnings in the south and hate crimes affecting Muslims and immigrants. This would have immediately connected with the hearts and minds of the women of color at the forum, and the million viewers who watched the livestream. There is no indication that the murderous violence by white nationalists and white supremacists will abate. In fact, the Southern Poverty Law Center reports that these crimes are on the rise, and the FBI has come to the same conclusion.
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