“If you ignore racism and if you don’t address issues of race with racists, then everything is fine, right?” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez said in an interview with POLITICO. “That’s how you work with segregationists: By not confronting the racism and their institutionalization of second-class citizenship and a lack of fully recognizing African Americans.”…

A source with Biden’s campaign dismissed the criticisms as a politically motivated effort by rivals to gain ground on the frontrunner. The person noted that Biden is popular with African-American voters, many of whom appreciated his time as the loyal vice president to the first black president, Barack Obama…

But one young African-American activist said the black caucus is out of touch with the base of the party and young voters of color when it comes to Biden.

“He’s not strong with young folks. He’s not talking to us. He has shown no growth. He is the same person he was a million years ago,” said Nailah Summers, an activist with Dream Defenders, which advocates for young people of color and supported the Florida Democrats’ most progressive nominee ever for governor, Andrew Gillum, last year.