# Why are Black Lives Matter activists disrupting Bernie Sanders' appearances and what effects? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 9, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345 "2015-08-09T00:04:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/41 "2015-08-09T14:42:55Z")
He went to talk about Social Security, that was his topic, that’s what he came to talk about. Is it reasonable to expect that pro-choice demonstrators can demand that he vacate his topic in order to address their agenda in the manner they feel is appropriate? What about the old guy who came to hear about Social Security, was assured that this was the topic, is he supposed to shut up and sit on his hands? This is coalition politics, it is clumsy and difficult. And in the halls where the Forces of Darkness meet to conspire, this is the best news they’ve had all week. Maybe all month. I don’t like it when they are happy, I especially don’t like it when we make them happy. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/42 "2015-08-09T14:49:24Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > Let’s call Bernie what he is. **White Supremacist liberal** > > Oh Lord, love it. I’m not sure if I believed a major politician was a White Supremacist that I would “love it”. In fact, I’m fairly sure I would despise that. Can I ask what there is for you to love? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/43 "2015-08-09T15:10:51Z")
He loves it as a piece of oxymoronic invective. Like “socialist Muslim”. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/44 "2015-08-09T15:30:20Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Mud? First, they didn’t talk about her that much, second, what did they say that was untrue, other than Rubio’s mistake about her being in office longer than anyone(which isn’t even really an attack)? > > I bet you that Clinton will be talking almost exclusively about Republicans at the Democratic debate, while moderators and Bernie Sanders vainly try to get her to answer the actual questions asked. I’ll take that bet; who should we designate as the judge? ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/45 "2015-08-09T15:55:11Z")
BLM is a rent-a-mob funded by George Soros and always has been. You’d have to talk to him to find out what he’s trying to accomplish. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/46 "2015-08-09T16:06:19Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > You still haven’t thought this through. According to your lights, there is absolutely no reason that the Communist Party cannot seize the microphone at a Clinton rally because it is a public gathering. I think of this as a practical rhetorical question, and not as a moral one. If a fringe group of black people advocating for the US to split into two countries–a black one and an “other” one–were to step up to the stage and take over the mic, they’d be arrested in short order. And afterwards, their message will only be ignored or ridiculed. Most people understand this and so won’t try it. If Black Lives Matter steps up to the stage and takes over the mic, they may be arrested, but their message won’t be universally ridiculed or ignored. Some people will talk about it on its merits. People will be looking to Sanders to see how he responds rather than (as in the previous case described above) assuming correctly he’ll go on as though he’d never heard the idea. So it makes more sense for BLM to do something like this than other groups like those you mentioned. The time is ripe for things like this. Note that after some such interruptions, Sanders actually hired a BLM activist for his campaign. (These latest interruptors admittedly didn’t seem to know that…) Do you think Sanders would have hired a communist for his campaign had a communist group done the same thing? Now–do you think Sanders would definitely have hired a BLM activist had BLM _not_ taken the fairly drastic steps it has taken? How sure are you about that? As an acquaintance of mine who blogs about this kind of thing has said in their facebook feed: > [@](#): > > Hi, people declaring this to be unproductive or “silencing”. > > As a result of her actions, he hired her for his campaign and added racial justice to his list of causes, so I’d call it incredibly productive, personally, as well as a way of unsilencing one hell of an important movement for justice today. Asking nicely in a way people are now saying they prefer clearly didn’t work. You think no one involved in ‪#‎BlackLivesMatter‬ politely asked Bernie Sanders to care? This worked. I haven’t verified whether it’s true that he hired her specifically as a result of her particular actions, but aside from that, this blogger’s point is dead on. There’s sort of a general practical worry people have about whether the possibility of this kind of action makes it impossible for people to hold rallies in the first place. (“If we allow this then won’t people just always do this, making rallies useless for the ones holding them?”) But we _know_ from what _actually happens_ that this kind of thing is in fact exceptional. It’s _always_ possible for people to do this (there’s no question of anyone being “allowed” to do it) and yet it only happens very rarely. Most people will have a sense of when doing something like this is counterproductive (i.e. usually) and when doing something like this has a realistic chance to help accomplish something positive. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/47 "2015-08-09T16:10:15Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > BLM is a rent-a-mob funded by George Soros and always has been. Citation requested. > [@](#): > > You’d have to talk to him to find out what he’s trying to accomplish. Should what you say turn out to be true, why not assume he’s trying to accomplish the mattering of black lives? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/48 "2015-08-09T16:11:48Z")
You bring some good info and make some good points, **Frylock** ; thanks for that post. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/49 "2015-08-09T16:45:29Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > ^Absolutely this. It is amazing in my mind that people are still putting forth Michael Brown as an example of a victim of police brutality when virtually all the evidence favours Officer Wilson’s account of the events. Sorry, but no. Ezra Klein: [INDENT]There are inconsistencies in Wilson’s story. He estimates that Brown ran 20-30 feet away from the car and then charged another 10 feet back towards Wilson. But we know Brown died 150 feet away from the car.[/INDENT] More: [Officer Darren Wilson's story is unbelievable. Literally. | Vox](http://www.vox.com/2014/11/25/7281165/darren-wilsons-story-side) I can see why the Justice Department might not want to die on this particular hill: arguably they were wise to shift focus to widespread and systemic problems in local judicial practices. But the “Virtually all evidence” claim is false. That said, I disagree with BLM crashing the event and calling for 4 min of silence for a figure where the evidence is as mixed as this. > [@Frylock](#): > > Note that after some such interruptions, Sanders actually hired a BLM activist for his campaign. (These latest interruptors admittedly didn’t seem to know that…) That’s one of the problems with BLM. [Their demands don’t translate very well into specific legislation](http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/07/whats-next-black-lives-matter). I’m glad that Sanders has attempted to get ahead of this issue. It seems to me though that BLM needs to level up as well. As further evidence, I could point to last Spring’s local election in Ferguson, where reformers won a couple of seats when they should have swept the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/50 "2015-08-09T17:31:11Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Sure, and I still think Clinton started the ‘Obama is a Muslim’ thing. But I don’t have any evidence that she did, or that she’s at all involved in this. Well, that’s a classic Fox/CNN tactic: First state that there’s no evidence for what you’re about to say, then say it anyway so that it gains traction as “news”. Jon Stewart did a bit on that. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/51 "2015-08-09T18:34:00Z")
I have it on good authority that both of the black residents of the great state of Vermont are Bernie Sanders supporters. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/52 "2015-08-09T19:04:34Z")
**Bernie** : Brothers! Brothers! We should be struggling together **Dems & BLM** : We Are!! **Bernie** : We mustn’t fight each other! Surely we should be united against the common enemy! **Dems & BLM** : The police!! **Bernie** : No, no! The oligarchs! - suspenseful music \* - creak \* - scuffle scuffle scuffle \* ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/53 "2015-08-09T20:34:10Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Citation requested. [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/14/george-soros-funds-ferguson-protests-hopes-to-spur/?page=all](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/14/george-soros-funds-ferguson-protests-hopes-to-spur/?page=all) > [@](#): > > Should what you say turn out to be true, why not assume he’s trying to accomplish the mattering of black lives? If he thinks shutting down Bernie Sanders would do that, he just made a big mistake. Few people would have seen that speech or cared what Sanders was saying, but now a lot of people have seen a sitting United States Senator and presidential candidate physically prevented from speaking by a bunch of punks. When LBJ was campaigning in Texas on the 1960 ticket, he and his wife got pushed around by a hostile crowd in Dallas yelling that he was a turncoat, carpetbagger, etc. After that scene appeared in the news, Kennedy-Johnson surged in the polls and went on to win Texas and the election, because so many of the undecideds – Southerners who liked to think of themselves as chivalrous – were appalled by the treatment, especially of Mrs. Johnson, and wanted to distance themselves from the “right-wing crazies”. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/54 "2015-08-09T21:09:01Z")
Those were the days, weren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/55 "2015-08-09T22:48:40Z")
_Washington Times_? Well, now, there’s a cite for sore eyes… ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/56 "2015-08-09T23:23:19Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I find it suspicious that the line started very early in the primaries. I heard it first from pro-Hillary people and not at all from the right wingers who don’t hesitate to let me know about their latest delusions. The Republicans didn’t think Obama would be the Democratic nominee, only Hillary was threatened by his success. In lieu of any solid information about how it started I prefer to believe that. I’m not saying Hillary did this herself, but I think it came from her campaign. Sadly, that conspiracy theory fits how a lot of us on the left see the Clinton machine. I’m not saying it’s true or false, just that it’s…plausible to some of us. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/57 "2015-08-10T02:06:37Z")
Bernie Sanders needs to get ahead of this now. He should ask a civil rights org (like the ACLU or NAACP or even an AME church) to host a forum for him to speak on this topic. The NAACP is usually pretty good about getting airtime for their events, so that’s probably a better avenue to pursue. If he does that, these protests will probably go away. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/58 "2015-08-10T02:25:22Z")
What he needs to do is get his cootie shot, which means changing his party designation to Democrat. As long as he’s not a Democrat he will not be inoculated from charges that he doesn’t care about black people. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/59 "2015-08-10T02:30:41Z")
> [@BrightNShiny](#): > > Bernie Sanders needs to get ahead of this now. He should ask a civil rights org (like the ACLU or NAACP or even an AME church) to host a forum for him to speak on this topic. The NAACP is usually pretty good about getting airtime for their events, so that’s probably a better avenue to pursue. If he does that, these protests will probably go away. I’m not sure, I don’t think the NAACP speaks for all black movements. I’d wager (based entirely on gut feeling, feel free to prove me wrong), that they’re probably seen as too “establishment” of a force for the more “radical” (for lack of a less negatively loaded term) movements. AFAIK, Sanders has one of the best voting records as rated by the NAACP, so if their approval was all that mattered he’s kind of already got it. Though I guess displaying that approval in a more public, obvious manner couldn’t hurt from a game-playing perspective. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2015, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345/60 "2015-08-10T04:44:09Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I’m not sure, I don’t think the NAACP speaks for all black movements. I’d wager (based entirely on gut feeling, feel free to prove me wrong), that they’re probably seen as too “establishment” of a force for the more “radical” (for lack of a less negatively loaded term) movements. > > AFAIK, Sanders has one of the best voting records as rated by the NAACP, so if their approval was all that mattered he’s kind of already got it. Though I guess displaying that approval in a more public, obvious manner couldn’t hurt from a game-playing perspective. It doesn’t really matter the organization. I’m only suggesting the NAACP, because they’re used to organizing these type of events and have the ability to get airtime for their events. What matters is that he holds an event with a reputable civil rights org. to discuss this issue specifically. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-black-lives-matter-activists-disrupting-bernie-sanders-appearances-and-what-effects/727345.md?page=4)