Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Racism is too loaded a word, IMHO. But that some, maybe even many, of us Left of Center have less understanding of the complexities of the various Black communities and how they work politically than we presume we do? Clearly the case.
I am pretty ignorant myself but dang it is pretty obvious even to me that there are many contributing factors to why Sanders failed here, and is, in this case not “low information” and only going by name recognition.
Although yes, Clinton is a known entity to them, and perceived positively. It starts that she was the default choice and he needed to give a reason to do otherwise.
He has no established cred or connections within the community. It is very telling when your claim for cred is a student protest over half a century ago. Yes, he had a good record voting for things as they came along, but he had no leadership role in all his years in Congress on anything that positively impacted these communities. And likely his vote on protecting gun manufacturers played poorly there too, as much as it played well to the rural Whites in Vermont: Blacks are much more commonly supportive of gun control than are Whites.
He came and lectured to them, basically using the his same stump speech with added “And Blacks are really hit by the system being rigged!” and a cringe-worthy “Thurgood Marshall was a damn good Supreme Court Justice.” He did not go on a listening tour. He did not communicate along the channels that impact most within these communities.
That consistent class-based message appeals to most middle class Whites who perceive their position as middle class, their share of the power, is under threat. The loss of what one has is a scary prospect, and these middle class Whites have always presumed that staying in middle class or moving up, that having a certain amount of power in this society, is something they could expect. The realization that increasingly it is no longer their birthright, that the wealth/power is less their future, motivates a demand for change, now. As pointed out in this thread, his message is fairly dismissive of other issues, such as racial identity, that impact wealth and power in and of themselves. The OMG we are losing power and less secure than our parents were aha experience that drives the response to a new call for action just does not automatically resonate with as many within these communities. A bit silly to think it would.
He failed to draw any specific to the community positive contrasts between himself and Clinton.
His message is predicated upon the belief that Obama has failed to deliver, failed to be strong enough and/or principled enough to change the system in the ways it must change, but he will be. Clinton embraces Obama, is of his team, and celebrates what he has accomplished promising to build upon its solid base, a “I will stand on the shoulder of this giant” motiff. Given Obama’s approval ratings within the Black community which would you think would sell better?
Being religious, and frankly Christian, is more commonly important within these communities than in Sanders White core of support.
So on and on. Clinton campaigned extremely effectively and he campaigned … ignorantly and maybe a bit arrogantly.
And his supporters who thought that Black voters would just listen to the revealed truth of Sanders and rally round him? Naive, ignorant, and arrogant … yeah a bit.