Why do you think black voters aren't supporting Bernie Sanders as much as white voters?

I don’t think TV is the best place to find reliable information on Bernie Sanders. He is not on any of the networks’ payroll.

It appears that Hilary Clinton has the majority of black support at this time. That could change though.

I don’t think black voters are fully cognizant of Sanders nor his take on the way things are rigged in the country. The big hurdle for Sanders is in getting the electorate to appreciate that our problems involve more than simply defeating Republicans at the polls. Sanders’ message is about the system itself being broken. Once he gets the chance to emphasize that the current political setup leaves those on the ground losers, I believe black voters will get the message. The thing to remember is that black politicians and leaders are now vested in the current political system to the same extent as their white counterparts. And of course they’re backing Hillary.

First he is a scary looking white dude. Second, the “I’ll give you all the free stuff you want” message isn’t working for the African Americans in this country. In fact in many ways it made things worse. They we don’t want or need more free stuff, they want jobs, a decent paycheck and better education. I am seeing and hearing more and more that the black communities feel abandoned by the very black man who promised hope and change and they are not very happy about it. Living near Chicago that is the message I hear more and more on the news and radio. Life in the black communities is measurable worse and black community leaders are raising their voices that they feel disenfranchised by the empty promises made by Obama and Mayor “Tiny Dancer” Rahm Emmanuel. So I for one and not surprised that black voter are not lining up behind Bernie. And with trust or lack there of in our politicians at the forefront of black voters minds, I would not be surprised that black voters shy away from Hillary as well.

Who is Bernie Sanders again, and what party is he, the party of Twiddle Dee or Twiddle Dumb?

He is too like Colonel Sanders; opinionated old white dude with white hair, and, he do go on.

I read this today and thought of your question, @JLeslie. I have great respect for Ta-Nehisi Coates, but I doubt most African-Americans are familiar with his writing, specifically his case for reparations. Interesting article, nonetheless.

My African-American friends largely support Hillary or are apathetic. I have no idea if that is representative of the population.

@Cupcake Killer Mike is right on point. Reparations are a decided loser as a campaign issue. The matter of whether or not they are justified is irrelevant. Sanders is right. No candidate of either party is going anywhere with reparations as a plank in their platform. The pragmatic question for Coates is The same as the rest of us. Which one the bunch is closest to my own convictions?

Maybe it has more to do with his religion (Jewish) and that most of the South faith tends to be Christian based and also he is that he is a liberal more than an democrat. He just joined the Democrats because he knew as an independent he had little to no chance. It usually comes down to Democrats and Republicans and he is nearer to Democrats than Republicans in his ideas.

Well at least, that is my guest. I don’t think its just about the Clintons but they have the Christian base as well behind them and they have been democrats for years. Not a last minute change. And Hillary is more in the middle so she may pick up Republican votes as well. Bernie is just starting to try to come to the center a little but he has long been so far on the left that I don’t think many people are buying it.

Personally, Bernie lost me when he was talking about paying for college. My thought is that we are behind on infrastructure repairs and our k-12 grades are over crowded and teachers are already being underpaid and he wants to add college costs! On what money?

@stanleybmanly Sure. I’m sure Hillary doesn’t support reparations, either. Certainly no republican candidate will. So I don’t fully get Coates’s stance, unless it’s just to get more attention for his previous pieces on reparations. It seems more self-serving than anything. Interesting and worth reading, in my opinion, but unhelpful in terms of narrowing down the current candidates.

@Cupcake I don’t take Coates’ fixation on reparations as self serving. He’s good and pissed about the price black people pay in America and the stubborn ignorance of our population regarding that fact. But as you, I and Sanders agree, this is not the time to bring the matter up. Sanders will force public discussion on how it is that 99% of us can be screwed in a place calling itself a democracy.

@stanleybmanly Thank you for the perspective. I agree.