[rad-green] Scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor Applauds Sanders for Activating 'Typically Invisible' Multiracial Coalition With 'Class Warfare' Campaign

*https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/10/scholar-keeanga-yamahtta-taylor-applauds-sanders-activating-typically-invisible
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/10/scholar-keeanga-yamahtta-taylor-applauds-sanders-activating-typically-invisible>Common
Dreams          December 10, 2019Scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor Applauds
Sanders for Activating 'Typically Invisible' Multiracial Coalition With
'Class Warfare' CampaignThe 2020 Democratic candidate, says Princeton
professor of African-American Studies, "has tapped into the anger and
bitterness coursing through the lives of regular people." Though Sanders
has gained ground in the polls and garnered endorsements from prominent
progressive organizations, corporate media outlets have often downplayed or
ignored the Vermont senator's campaign.by Jake Johnson, staff writer*

*Supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) cheer at the University of
Minnesotas Williams Arena on November 3, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
(Photo: Scott Heins/Getty Images)*

Scholar and activist Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor on Tuesday argued
<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/opinion/bernie-sanders-multiracial-workers.html>
that
Sen. Bernie Sanders' strong standing in the 2020 Democratic presidential
race is attributable to his success in mobilizing a multiracial coalition
of working class people who are often rendered invisible by the corporate
media and political establishment.

"Neither the Democratic Party establishment nor the mainstream media really
understand his campaign," Taylor, assistant professor of African-American
Studies at Princeton University, wrote
<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/opinion/bernie-sanders-multiracial-workers.html>
in
the *New York Times* Tuesday. "That's *because* it disregards conventional
wisdom in politics today—tax cuts for the elite and corporations and
public-private partnerships to finance healthcare, education, housing, and
other public services."

"His demands for a redistribution of wealth from the top to the rest of
society and universal, government-backed programs have resonated with the
forgotten residents of the country."
—Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Princeton University

Building on his long-shot 2016 presidential bid that garnered 13 million
votes, "the Sanders campaign has transformed into a tribune of the
oppressed and marginalized," Taylor wrote.

The diverse grassroots composition of Sanders' base, Taylor wrote, is
evident in the campaign's fundraising numbers. Sanders leads
<https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/09/sanders-vs-warren-who-has-more-working-class-donors/>
the
2020 Democratic field in donations from teachers, retail workers, farmers,
nurses, construction workers, and drivers.

"Sanders is also the leading recipient of donations from Latinos," Taylor
wrote. "According to *Essence* magazine, Mr. Sanders is the favorite
candidate among black women aged 18 to 34. Only 49 percent of his
supporters are white, compared with 71 percent of Warren supporters."

Taylor also highlighted Sanders' major endorsements, including the Center
for Popular Democracy (CPD) Action, a coalition of more than 40 progressive
community groups with over 600,000 members nationwide. CPD Action announced
Tuesday that its members voted to endorse the senator from Vermont in the
2020 Democratic primary.

"Bernie Sanders is the powerful movement candidate we need to defeat Donald
Trump," Jennifer Epps-Addison, co-executive director of the Center for
Popular Democracy Action, said in a statement
<https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/10/bernie-sanders-progressive-endorsement-080014>.
"From ending mass incarceration and deportations to the $15 minimum wage
and Medicare for All, Sanders is working hand-in-hand with our communities
to champion the policies that we need to thrive."

Though Sanders has gained ground in the polls and garnered endorsements
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/15/applauding-his-record-standing-charter-billionaires-united-teachers-los-angeles>
from
prominent progressive organizations, corporate media outlets have
often downplayed
or ignored
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/14/analysis-primetime-msnbc-programs-finds-sanders-received-least-and-most-negative>
the
Vermont senator's campaign—a phenomenon Sanders supporters have termed the
"Bernie blackout."

Taylor alluded to the media's sparse coverage of Sanders compared to the
rest of the Democratic field, noting that, "under normal circumstances, the
multiracial working class is invisible."

"This has meant its support for Mr. Sanders's candidacy has been hard to
register in the mainstream coverage of the Democratic race," Taylor wrote.
"Mr. Sanders has reached the typically invisible, downwardly mobile working
class with his language of 'class warfare.' He has tapped into the anger
and bitterness coursing through the lives of regular people."

"Without cynicism or the typical racist explanations that blame
African-Americans and Latino immigrants for their own financial hardship,
Mr. Sanders blames capitalism," Taylor added. "His demands for a
redistribution of wealth from the top to the rest of society and universal,
government-backed programs have resonated with the forgotten residents of
the country."

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