2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: "Memo to candidate Hillary Clinton: I could have been a Monica Lewinsky" [View all]Nonhlanhla
(2,074 posts)I'm not African American, and I certainly cannot speak for the African American community. I can tell you only what I think based on my observations.
Bernie's own criticism of Obama clearly hurt him. One friend of mine, a respected AA academic, told me that despite his own progressive criticism of Obama, he felt that Obama is too important to the AA community to be criticized too much publicly, especially given the criticism he is getting from the Right. I could totally see his point. (I'm also a huge Obama fan, so I agreed that we on the Left need not pile on him as well - he's got enough of that from the Right.) I just don't think Bernie realized (or cared much at the time, in 2012, when he was making noises about someone challenging Obama) just how important Obama is to the African American community. It indicates a certain tone deafness that, I suspect, might add to suspicion of him as someone who might not really understand the issues facing African Americans.
Linked to that, I also think Bernie's focus on class issues and Johnny-come-lately inclusion of race (and gender) alongside class, may be harming him with women and minorities. As a woman, I can say honestly that I do not wish my issues to be channeled through class lenses. I want them to matter by themselves, and with Bernie it does not feel as if they do. I suspect that something similar might going on in minority communities.
I also think the AA community in general does not have the same negative reaction to Hillary as white communities have (for all kinds of reasons), and therefore they don't see the need to find an alternative candidate.
I'm purely speculating, of course. As I said, I don't really know. For better insight, you might want to read some of the posts by AA members here, like Bravenak and others.