African American
In reply to the discussion: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Bernie Sanders, and Reparations [View all]nyabingi
(1,145 posts)candidates' commitment to confronting white supremacy because he knows they either openly support it (the entire Republican field) or probably have no clue as to its existence (Hillary Clinton).
There is a big difference between a "democratic socialist" and an anarchist, communist, revolutionary nationalist (like Malcolm X), etc. Bernie's positions aren't nearly as radical and far-out as they are being made out to be. In fact, they are pretty mainstream ideas in comparison to other industrialized wealthy countries - only in the US are they considered radical enough to warrant a comparison to slavery reparations, especially any form of reparations that would actually seek to repair the past damage of white supremacy and prevent its negativity going forward into the future.
Bernie is focusing on many of the symptoms of white supremacy (mass incarceration, economic exploitation and exclusion, the police state) in a way that none of the other candidates are, and I think TNC should have at least acknowledged that instead of knocking him for not being quite radical enough.