Clinton faces protests as she courts black voters

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By STEVE PEOPLES and BILL BARROW

ATLANTA (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton, shouting over protesters, promised black Americans Friday that she would address systemic racism and, if elected, follow in the footsteps of her predecessor, the country's first black president.

At multiple campaign stops, the Democratic presidential front-runner outlined her plans for criminal justice reform, an issue that she and her rivals — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley — each pitch as they court black voters who will help choose a nominee. But for Clinton this time, a mostly friendly audience at Clark Atlanta University included several protesters from the Black Lives Matter Movement.

They sang and chanted for nearly 12 minutes as Clinton tried to speak over them. Rep. John Lewis, a hero in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, urged them to stop, as did the musician Usher. But they persisted until the crowd of more than 2,000 students, most of them black, chanted, "Let her talk!"

"I'm sorry they didn't listen, because some of what they demanded I am offering and intend to fight for as president," Clinton said of the protesters. "We have to come together as a nation," she added.

FULL story at link.


Former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, right, and Dot Scott, president of the Charleston Branch NAACP, second from right, react to a joke from mistress of ceremonies Linda Ketner on Friday, Oct. 30, 2015 at the branch's 98th annual Freedom Fund Banquet held at the Charleston Area Convention Center in North Charleston, S.C. Clinton was the keynote speaker. (Wade Spees/The Post And Courier via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/91d525348a24455fb7e5457ab11593fd/clinton-pitch-sentencing-police-changes-black-voters

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. So John Lewis wanted protesters to stop protesting and listen to HRC

while she 'whitesplained' to them.

This link http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/30/politics/hillary-clinton-black-lives-matter/

Adds further quotes.


At least we now know the 'proper' way to react to protesters. We've been shown the way by civil rights activist John Lewis and candidate Hillary Clinton. Shout them down, try to shut them up, say you support them, then have police herd them off.

As opposed to letting them take the microphone, say their piece, waiting during respectful silences, and only leaving when other engagements called.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. Hard to take to the microphone when it's high up on a platform that's surrounded by a fence.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

4. Actually, I may need to pull back a few of these comments.

I couldn't find several of the tweets directly about John Lewis again when I went to the two twitter streams I thought came directly from the protesters. They might have been other people's responses to the protesters' tweets and interpretations of what the protesters tweeted about 'black leaders' in a more general way. I still don't have twitter entirely figured out.

[geek tragedy]

5. That is the way to deal with protestors who want to shut down

your event. I wish Bernie had done it. There's no heckler's veto.

If 12 people want to override what 2000 want, after an appropriate amount of time they need to be shown the door.

[Rafale]

2. Sen Sanders approach...

Worked best. Talking over someone just shows you think the other person is full of sh@#. That goes both ways of course, but talking over someone when you are seeking their vote is a bad choice when dealing with intelligent people. Talking over someone who leads a legal system that is daily attacking your people with unequal justice is perhaps an under-reaction. Most lands the oppressed would be out in the streets turning over cars, burning buildings and revolting. Such was the Arab spring. So if BLM is just talking over candidates, maybe it's better than the alternative one would expect. Perhaps there's more civility in BLM actions than is warranted given the circumstances of the daily police shootings and mass arrests?

Was it a whole 12 minutes? Gosh (as if the world would end for such an act).