During Bernie Sanders’ appearance at Netroots Nation on Saturday, #BlackLivesMatter confronted the candidate about racial injustice in the US. The #BlackLivesMatter began as a response to the deaths of black men and women at the hands of police officers. The activists were also chanting #SayHerName, in response to the suspicious deaths of black women while in police custody (including Sandra Band, an educated woman with no criminal record). They asked Sanders what he would do to stop racial inequality in America, to which Sanders replied, “Black lives of course matter. But I’ve spent 50 years of my life fighting for civil rights. If you don’t want me to be here, that’s okay.”
The activists continued to chant while Sanders attempted to continue his prepared speech, leading the candidate to raise his voice over the crowd at times. Sanders, who marched with Martin Luther King Jr., has a history of fighting for civil rights. But, he is criticized by the #BlackLivesMatter activists for believing that racial inequality is a symptom of economic inequality, and fixing the latter will fix the former as well. Sanders later skipped his meeting with the #BlackLivesMatter activists. He did go on Twitter later and tweet about #BlackLivesMatter and #SayHerName, as you can see below. Overall, do you think agree with Sanders’ stance on the movement?