At Netroots Nation last weekend, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders had a tense encounter with members of the Black Lives Matter movement that had many people wondering whether he would be able to salvage his campaign, especially after Hillary Clinton's deft handling of the issue later in the week.
At an event in South Carolina, she argued that "Black Lives Matter" is "not just a slogan, this should be a guiding principle" -- only then adding that "economic inequality is a system of racism." Instead of being defensive, as Sanders had -- telling the protesters at Netroots Nation that "black lives of course matter," and that he's "spent 50 years of my life fighting for civil rights" -- Clinton simply addressed the issue directly, then noted that institutional racism is also an economic issue. Neither is paramount, she seemed to be saying, and they are so entangled that it would be impossible to address one without also addressing the other.
On "Meet the Press" Sunday, Sanders seemed to have learned that lesson, correcting host Chuck Todd's characterization of the encounter at Netsroot Nation before he could even finish his question. "It wasn't a 'confrontation,' Chuck," the senator said.
"The issue they raised was in fact a very important issue. This an issue of concern that I strongly share," he continued. "I was not dismissive. I’ve been involved in the Civil Rights movement all of my life. I believe we have to deal with the issue of institutional racism."
When Todd noted that some of Sander's critics accuse him of addressing issues of racial injustice in terms of economic inequality, Sanders reminded the host of his forceful response to the death of Sandra Bland, then characterized racial injustice and economic equality in terms similar to those used by Clinton, saying they were "parallel problems."
Sanders, the evidence suggests, learned a lesson it would behoove former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to learn, as his disastrous appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday morning demonstrated. It began anodyne enough, with CNN political contributor Bakari Sellers explaining why the Black Lives Matter movement has become such a significant issue on the left.
"Black Lives Matter has an implicit 'too' at the end of it," he began, before noting that despite that, it's still associated with "a very specific pain."
"You have African-Americans who, literally, do not get the benefit of their humanity,” Sellers explained. “That’s a problem. You know, in my next interaction -- I’m the only person at this table whose next interaction [with police officers] may cause them to be a hashtag, and that's something that we feel, that's a very deep pain."
Cuccinelli praised Sellers for "adding 'too,' 't-o-o' at the end."
"But it's implicit," Sellers said.
"You may say that,” Cuccinelli replied, "and there’s plenty of reason to understand that -- but I don’t think every American hears it that way."
"They hear, ‘Here we are, yes we have this political motivation that we’re separating out this one category of Americans and saying they matter more than everybody else.’ That’s actually what a lot of people see."
He explained that that's why Republicans like himself and presidential candidate Jeb Bush are claiming that the slogan should be "All Live Matters" -- which was, in fact, the exact response that former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley field-tested to disastrous effect at Netsroot Nation immediately before Sanders took the stage last weekend.
If the GOP wants to capture more than a modicum of the African-American vote in the next election, it's going to have to stop coddling the feelings of white people who don't feel included in a movement predicated on a institutionalized violence to which they simply aren't subjected. Other factors exist, but mentioning that to people who have been radicalized by multiple examples of systemic racial injustice the past three years is not a way to win over supporters.
Fortunately for Sanders, he seems to have learned that lesson; fortunately for America, the GOP seems determined not to.
Watch Cuccinelli on "State of the Nation" via CNN.
Sanders' appearance on "Meet the Press" can be viewed below via NBC.
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