As a Palestinian Muslim American, a woman of color, and a Brooklyn-born organizer, I’ve been fighting for the needs of my community and other communities of color for years.
So when Senator Bernie Sanders ran for president in 2016 on a platform championing racial and economic justice for all, supporting his candidacy was an easy decision. When his campaign sparked a movement in the years following, I continued the fight across America with other candidates and causes committed to progress. And when Sanders launched his 2020 campaign, I joined as a national surrogate to continue the political revolution we had all built together.
But in both 2016 and 2019, my decisions have been doubted and questioned. Other Democrats could not fathom why people like me –– a progressive woman of color who advocates for representation — would support a 78-year-old white man for president. Many women of color across the country also find themselves in this trap: we are told our voices matter and our concerns must be amplified, but simultaneously find ourselves needing to defend our decisions.
Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar have both enthusiastically endorsed Sanders’ campaign, shocking Democrats who have been preaching the “Bernie bro” narrative for years. But for some women of color across the country, the endorsement simply affirmed what we already knew: Sanders stands alone as the only candidate who will bring the transformational change our country so urgently needs.
Ocasio-Cortez and Omar understand this need for change on a visceral level. As women of color, we are the Americans shouldering the greatest levels of student debt of any demographic, according to a report this year from the American Association of University Women. We are among the Americans disproportionately suffering without health insurance. We are the Americans most affected by high housing costs and most burdened by income inequality. And we are the Americans who would benefit most from raising the minimum wage and empowering labor movements across the country. It is for these reasons that young women were found by an Economist analysis to form a larger core of Sanders’ base than men do — and less than half of his supporters are white, according to an August Pew Research Center report.
Omar, Ocasio-Cortez, former Ohio state senator Nina Turner, San Juan, Puerto Rico mayor Carmen Yulìn Cruz, New York state senator Jessica Ramos, Princeton professor and author Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, and Missouri congressional candidate Cori Bush are only a few of the thousands of women of color who support, volunteer, and donate to ensure Sanders is the next president of the United States.
We support Sanders because he consistently champions our voices, our concerns, and our communities. His policies speak to women of color in meaningful ways — but it’s his willingness to uplift and engage communities of color that truly built a movement (this past September, Sanders was the only candidate who has consistently polled among the top five candidates to attend this year’s Islamic Society of North America conference and participate in their presidential forum hosted at the conference by a coalition of Muslim organizations, including Emgage USA). Though there are other great candidates running, Bernie is the only one who has built a movement that will outlast any individual campaign.
Women of color are exhausted from bearing the disproportionate burdens of inequality – and with so much at stake in this election, we are exhausted from having to explain ourselves. Every time our choice for the presidency is discredited, our agency of women of color is stripped away. Every time people echo the patently false “Bernie Bro” narrative, they erase our voices as well.
Regardless of who the Democratic nominee is, we will not hesitate to support them in the summer of 2020. But by supporting Sanders in the primary, women of color are simply continuing the fight for justice we have spearheaded for generations.
Certainly, our voices have been disparaged and discounted throughout American history as we’ve fought for progress. But it’s 2019 — and we urge our fellow Democrats to do better.
Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: Bernie Sanders Shares His Plan for a Working-Class Revolution
potsmokingsocialist on November 11st, 2019 at 16:58 UTC »
Just wanna add that as a person of color supporting Sanders as enthusiastically as I did in 2016, I'm happy that the white Bernie bro myth is being turned on its head. I know it's anecdotal, but I have rarely met black and brown folks, particularly young PoC, who are suspicious or disbelieving of Sanders and his commitment to racial and economic justice. When entire communities have been promised much needed investment and development from both political parties but instead are subjugated to economic and social discrimination, ostracization, and humiliation, we stop pretending that anyone will save us. For his entire life, Sanders has been fighting for the right of self-determination for not just marginalized communities, but poor people and workers of all backgrounds. At the end of the day, it's not about our own narrow interests or the dictates of a candidate; it's about all of us.
Edit: As a longtime lurker of Reddit and now new poster, this blew up faster than I expected. If anyone is considering giving me Gold, please contribute to Bernie's campaign instead!
archetype1 on November 11st, 2019 at 15:09 UTC »
His base is now "too urban" according to CNN punditry.
ThreeLittlePuigs on November 11st, 2019 at 13:51 UTC »
Yep! This disingenuous attack goes back to 2015. Sanders has not only worked to broaden his coalition but also actively listens to women of color, something many politicians could learn from as they are often the driving force behind change in our country