Life after ’63
By 
Photo by Tamar Waskey on Unsplash
From the No New Tale to Tell files:
Sen. Bernie Sanders has a story for black audiences. They’ve just heard it already.
“I was actually at the March on Washington with Dr. King back in 1963,” Sanders likes to remind audiences. “As somebody who actively supported Jesse Jackson’s campaign — as one of the few white elected officials to do so in ’88 — I have dedicated my life to the fight against racism and sexism and discrimination of all forms.”
His most recent audience, at a candidate forum in Texas dedicated to women of color, She the People, responded with a round of groans.
If I wanted to give Sen. Sanders the benefit of the doubt, I might say he doesn’t intend to sound like every freedom fadist who expects a few years of intense activism to translate into a lifetime of admiration from members of the marginalized group he graced with his attention. I might say he doesn’t intend to sound like every softcore racist who has ever expected African-Americans to roll our eyes in awe and lawdhamercy whenever someone invokes the name of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I don’t want. The shtick could be mildly annoying if he were a garrulous old man stuck on auto-nostalgia about the good old days when he had more hair to comb and less face to wash. As an incentive to vote to put him in the White House it was almost funny but mostly insulting the first time around. Now the joke isn’t funny anymore.
However, his refusal to listen to criticism from the people he allegedly wants to vote for him gives me a chance to ask a question that I’ve been pondering for a while: In the future what sort of activism will candidates like Sanders use as a clumsy shorthand for “I’m on you peoples’ side?” Reproductive health clinic escort? Black Lives Matter protests? Defending queer rights?
Alternate/bonus topic: Some people continue think Buffalo Springfield’s For What it’s Worth is the protest song for the ages. Should someone launch a mission to rescue those folks from the cave they’re trapped in, or should they be left where they are?
