# Bernie Sanders' White Privilege **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 1, 2021, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015 "2021-02-01T22:10:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/61 "2021-02-02T14:26:13Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I disagree, it definitely helps him get away with it that he’s white. “[G]et away with it?” He didn’t start smashing stuff and declaring that he was robbed because he won the primary, not Joe Biden. He wore a gray coat (much like the dude sitting next to him – see my post above), not a black coat. Holy crap, people (starting with the author of the article condemning Bernie’s attire) are making an entire Himalayan mountain range out of a molehill here. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/62 "2021-02-02T14:26:55Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > This isn’t about racism (or partisanship) in general, this is specifically about a black person arriving at the Biden/Harris inauguration and whether or not they would need a white person to vouch for them if they were dressed like Bernie. I suppose it depends on the black person. Sanders benefits here not just from being white but from a lifetime of politics and a couple presidential runs and being a easily recognized figure as a result. He wasn’t some random old white guy squatting on the stairs. You’d be closer to ask what if James Clyburn or the late Elijah Cummings or John Lewis had showed up in a parka although none of them still had the public recognition Sanders has after a couple well publicized presidential campaigns. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/63 "2021-02-02T14:27:38Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I get the point. I just disagree with it. Vermonters of all races dress pretty much like that because it’s practical. I grant you there aren’t many Vermonters of color, but the ones I’ve met pretty much dress like that as well. > > It might be seen as a matter of white privilege in the big city, but it also may simply be a long time Vermonter dressing for cold weather and not caring about what others think. Based on my knowledge of Vermont and Bernie, I’d vote for the latter but others may come to a different conclusion. A black person from Vermont who got invited to sit near the heart of the inauguration would be likely to think very hard about what would be considered appropriate to wear and what people who saw em would think of it. Indeed, even to get to the point of being in a position to get that invitation would have spent a lifetime thinking about what people (especially although not exclusively white people) might view these things. That Bernie Sanders can either avoid thinking about it or dismissing any such considerations is absolutely a factor of white male privilege. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/64 "2021-02-02T14:28:15Z")
No one is saying its a big deal (except perhaps the original opinion piece) but pointing out that it is indeed an example of privilege. One of the things we are supposed to be doing is becoming aware of when privilege is in play. And instead of saying “yep” - a bunch of us are busy saying “no way!” or “it isn’t a big deal.” ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/65 "2021-02-02T14:37:31Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > And instead of saying “yep” - a bunch of us are busy saying “no way!” or “it isn’t a big deal.” Count me as one of them. In this instance, to call out Senator Sanders’ choice of outerwear as an example of white privilege seems baseless. It really does. Also, gotta say, I don’t think Sanders wore anything inappropriate. As I pointed out above, he is clearly wearing a suit, a perfectly appropriate suit, standard male business attire, just like most of the men there. All the clutching of pearls seems to be over the fact that his coat is light gray, not dark gray or black, and he’s wearing mittens. And the mittens have been a Sanders trademark for a while now. They were made by a Vermont elementary school teacher out of repurposed old sweaters and recycled plastic bottles and stuff like that. He wore them all the time while campaigning. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/66 "2021-02-02T14:37:53Z")
And there I disagree with you. There are ritual occasions in society were dressing for the occasion is part of the ritual. Inaugurating a president is an important thing - dressing like its an important thing adds gravitas and legitimacy. It has to do with the importance of ritual to societies. I think that when you start breaking those traditions, you’ll end up breaking something important. We could have the President sworn in at noon in his jammies and bunny slippers with a couple of witnesses, in Blair House…we’d lose something important. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/67 "2021-02-02T14:37:59Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > And I’m in Minnesota - its no warmer here than it is in Vermont. I have a proper Winter dress coat. My husband has a proper Winter dress coat. We have proper Winter lined leather dress gloves. We have long underwear to wear under our dress slacks, which are wool in Winter. We have wool socks and dress boots with wool linings. At the inauguration, it wasn’t actually that cold (windy, in the 40s), many women were in skirts, even Ms. Pelosi, who isn’t much younger than Bernie. Dress properly for the occasion - you can simultaneously dress properly for the weather. That’s exactly the sort of fashion policing Bernie was protesting against. Enforcing norms by invalidating other choices is disrespectful. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/68 "2021-02-02T14:40:51Z")
That’s fine. Your right to do so. It’s mine to say “she has a point.” Its even mine to make this into a huge deal, which it isn’t. But I do think pointing out these little things brings awareness the next time someone criticizes a First Lady for wearing a sleeveless dress or a Black President wearing a tan suit. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/69 "2021-02-02T14:41:26Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > a bunch of us are busy saying “no way!” or “it isn’t a big deal.” More like just “meh”. If someone is worried about teaching about white privilege, this is exactly the wrong event to waste time and energy on. No one who isn’t already converted is going to walk away thinking “Wow, white privilege is really something to have awareness of if a white senior citizen is allowed to wear mittens like that…” ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/70 "2021-02-02T14:43:01Z")
Its also disrespectful to come to the inauguration of the President of the United States wearing your mittens, unless you are not yet in middle school. Personally, to me, as I said before, I think the ritual of this thing is important, and dress is part of the ritual. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/71 "2021-02-02T14:43:42Z")
Then why are you here? If it isn’t something you want to waste time on, no one is making you spend time here. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/72 "2021-02-02T14:46:28Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > If someone is worried about teaching about white privilege, this is exactly the wrong event to waste time and energy on. This is a good point. I can almost hear Tucker Carlson ranting about this on his show, shouting that this just proves that the libs hate white people or whatever bullshit he makes up, and look at this San Francisco radical being offended. Why hand it to him? This whole thing is silly. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/73 "2021-02-02T14:47:41Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > And there I disagree with you. There are ritual occasions in society were dressing for the occasion is part of the ritual. Inaugurating a president is an important thing - dressing like its an important thing adds gravitas and legitimacy. What do you think about the man sitting to Sanders’ right (see pics above), wearing a gray coat and cowboy boots? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/74 "2021-02-02T14:48:13Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Its also disrespectful to come to the inauguration of the President of the United States wearing your mittens, unless you are not yet in middle school. FFS are you just looking for things to complain about? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/75 "2021-02-02T15:00:43Z")
I feel like I’ve just stepped into an episode of Larry David’s new show, [Bern Your Enthusiasm](https://youtu.be/nn4tP7ogWIA). An excerpt: > “What, they’re just mittens. I like warm hands, the are mittens to keep my hands warm.” > > “They’re not ‘inauguration mittens’. If you’re not going to go bare handed, you have to wear dress mittens!” > > “They make ‘dress mittens’? Who knew? Do I get them at Brooks Brothers?” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/76 "2021-02-02T15:06:46Z")
Bernie Sanders’ White Privilege is an utterly fabulous band name. I can envision them belting out classic tunes like this one. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Gw-TVrR8wZc/hqdefault.jpg "Bonzo Dog Band - Can Blue Men Sing The Whites") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw-TVrR8wZc) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/77 "2021-02-02T15:08:30Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > What do you think about the man sitting to Sanders’ right (see pics above), wearing a gray coat and cowboy boots? For that matter, I never knew there was such as thing as “formal wear blankets”. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/78 "2021-02-02T15:13:02Z")
I think she has a point, but I think she has a limited number of opportunities to make that point to an audience that might be willing to listen, and I think she wasted one of those opportunities by critiquing someone who’s well-known for his occasionally disheveled appearance. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/79 "2021-02-02T15:13:23Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > In this instance, to call out Senator Sanders’ choice of outerwear as an example of white privilege seems baseless. It really does. Sanders had the privilege of dressing ridiculously for a very important event, and having everyone be amused at how adorable it all was. He played the “I’m an old man who doesn’t care what anyone thinks” card and we were all thrilled. Is it an example of White Privilege? Male Privilege? Political Heavyweight Privilege? I couldn’t say, but it is undeniable that there are others who get routinely criticized for their dress. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015/80 "2021-02-02T15:14:24Z")
I don’t know… he was clearly wearing a suit underneath which is appropriate dress for the occasion. Personally, I think the confounding thing here is that he’s 79 years old, which makes it a different matter than if he was 29. He’s not some 65 year old retiree, he’s positively ancient. So I tend to cut him some slack in terms of winter clothing. That said, I see where Seyer-Ochi might be coming from, although I think she chose a poor example to illustrate it. She’d have done better to contrast the attention paid to female and/or ethnic legislators’ clothing choices to the utter indifference paid to male and/or white legislator’s choices in suits. I mean, I bet nobody paid any attention whatsoever to what suits Jerry Nadler and Adam Schiff wore during the first impeachment trial, but people actually noticed that Nancy Pelosi wore the same outfit for both impeachments. Or about what significance there was to many women wearing purple- I haven’t heard a conclusive answer whether it was suffragette purple, a blend of red & blue as a call for unity, or something else entirely. But people paid attention. Nobody could tell you what color Chuck Schumer’s tie was though without digging up a photo on an article about something else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-sanders-white-privilege/932015.md?page=5)