Open Letter to Bernie Sanders

Every time I see you talk about your campaign's chance of winning, you adamantly state that you need a revolution- that Americans will need to get far more politically active at a grassroots level behind your campaign. I agree- a revolution is the only thing that could overpower establishment candidates' massive war chests and propaganda machines.

Since August last year, I have seen the beginnings of a revolution on the streets of cities across the country. Unfortunately, this revolution has nothing to do with Bernie Sanders. The revolution we are experiencing is one by people of color against our incredibly racist and oppressive justice system. Every day there are large protests in the street, mostly people of color, demanding revolution. And yet when I read about your poll numbers and chances, here's what I see:

"But the foundational flaws in Sanders’ candidacy are pretty easy to spot. Sanders may be polling well in mostly white New Hampshire, but he hasn’t been able to figure out how to earn more than 5 percent of the nonwhite vote, according to national polls. Nonwhite voters make up more than a third of Democratic primary voters nationally." ( http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/what-to-make-of-the-bernie-sanders-surge/ )

How can this be? How is the candidate whose platform is based on needing a revolution doing so poorly among people who are clamoring for exactly that? This is the one place where you are not taking a strong stand. When it comes to Wall Street, you pull no punches. You demand accountability for Wall Street criminals. But when it comes to the police, the fire fades. You start turning into a typical weasel politician, prefacing your substanceless remarks with platitudes about how you know police officers have a really tough job. When have you ever prefaced a criticism of Wall Street with "Look, let me first say that I know banking is a really hard job"? Yet this is how you treat the organization that is killing (mostly black) Americans once every 8 hours. 

Is it any wonder that none of these revolutionaries trust you?  If you want a revolution of support, it's time you took a real stand on the issues that matter for people of color. Your policies on improving economic opportunities and education will no doubt help black Americans- but how is a person supposed to get excited about jobs when they're afraid that the very people supposed to protect them could gun them down the next time they walk down the street? White guys like me can get behind your campaign because we can afford to care about abstract issues like the TPP or jobs programs. But a black man can't worry about that when he's just worried about surviving the next trip to the corner store. It's telling that when I wanted to write to you about this, there were countless issues I could choose as the topic, but I had to choose "Other" because police brutality and racism isn't even something your campaign even recognizes as an issue worthy of listing.

If you want a revolution to rise up and support your campaign, it's time to take a strong stance against police brutality and racism. It's time to work with black leadership and develop a comprehensive plan to address these concerns. If you come out strongly in support of the solutions being put forth by black leadership, you will have the revolution you need almost overnight.