A group of liberal black leaders sent a message to Sen. Bernie Sanders, saying some of his supporters had made “racist threats” after the Working Families Party endorsed Sen. Elizabeth Warren for the Democratic presidential primary.
The letter draft, obtained by Splinter on Thursday, was signed on by dozens of black liberal leaders, saying people associated with the Working Families Party “are being threatened on a daily basis, by self-identified Sanders supporters, with hateful, violent and racist threats. ‘Uncle Tom.’ ‘Slave.’ ‘[C-word].'”
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“These kinds of threats have no place in our movements, and are reminiscent of the threats Black people would receive when daring to vote even though the white supremacists would try and discourage Black people from doing so,” the letter continued. “We refuse to concede to white terror from the Left as well as the Right.”
Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, a signatory of the letter, said the draft sent to Splinter was not final. On Thursday, Sanders tweeted out a condemnation of “racist bullying and harassment” saying his campaign was “building a multiracial movement for justice.”
This campaign condemns racist bullying and harassment of any kind, in any space. We are building a multiracial movement for justice — that’s how we win the White House.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) September 19, 2019
Sanders’ supporters have faced charges of sexism before including 2016 when they were labeled as “Bernie bros.” The Working Families Party is a progressive political party in New York City.
