New to DU and new here. Also a question about optics [View all]

[Rebkeh]

First, about Bernie. Yes, I am black and a Bernie supporter - I don't know if that will get me into trouble here. Don't care either.

I am voting for him. I am, as they say, "feelin the bern" but not for the reasons most cited. I am less of an issues voter than I am a values voter. My eye is more on trends than anything - meaning the way progress develops for everyone. If it's bad for poc, it's definitely going to be bad for everyone else in the long run. Anyway... I digress.

My question about optics is this - would it be a bad idea for Bernie, or his supporters, to cite Dr. King when speaking about socialism and socialistic positions?

Here's how it went - I made a suggestion to Bernie supporters in another, mostly white, forum about framing socialism. The main discussion had been about how Bernie messed up by bringing up European examples of why socialism is not a scary thing. Many suggested using FDR's policies, and even a quote by Lincoln, as examples instead. I suggested that if they were going to go down that road, to be very clear about inclusion regarding black people. 'Back in the day' nostalgia is unlikely to resonate. I know if it were me, I'd probably shut down and stop listening. That and I have no desire to get into yet another argument about why it's about so much more than class/poverty.

I then realized that Dr. King probably may be a good person to cite, but that is a fine line to walk. I myself hesitate to walk it because his legacy is still being co-opted. That and because I don't feel qualified to say as much because I have not personally studied his work. I did suggest it as an option to look into though. I got several responses from my post. One was that FDR's Four Freedoms are very much aligned with Dr. King's work. Also, a couple of links.

http://borgenproject.org/martin-luther-king-quotes-poverty/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/obery-m-hendricks-jr-phd/the-uncompromising-anti-capitalism-of-martin-luther-king-jr_b_4629609.html

So - bad optics or no? I am sure Symone Sanders has already thought of this, but I don't exactly have her on my contacts list. My take is that Bernie should leave it to black supporters to do it. He himself getting up there is a bad look, or am I over thinking it?

I hate that I even have to think about this at all.