Writer Ta-Nehsi Coates said Wednesday that he plans to vote for Bernie Sanders, despite his much-publicized criticism of the Vermont senator for not supporting slavery reparations.
“I will be voting for Senator Sanders. I have tried to avoid this question, but, yes, I will be voting for Sen. Sanders,” Coates told Amy Goodman of Democracy Now.
Coates is considered a major voice in left-leaning circles, particularly on racial issues. It’s a key endorsement for Sanders, who is trying to make up a deficit with black voters in order to wrest the Democratic nomination away from Hillary Clinton, as the Democratic contest begins to go South. New Hampshire and Iowa have higher than average white populations.
Coates has criticized Sanders for not supporting reparations for slavery, a cause Coates champions. He has also criticized Sanders’ position as especially problematic because Sanders says he’s a socialist, whereas as Clinton only declares herself to be a liberal.
“If not even an avowed socialist can be bothered to grapple with reparations, if the question really is that far beyond the pale … If this is the candidate of the radical left — then expect white supremacy in America to endure well beyond our lifetimes and lifetimes of our children,” Coates has written.
His stance has caused Coates to draw fire from one prominent Sanders supporter, Atlanta rapper Killer Mike.
Killer Mike said of Coates’ position in January, tweeting, “Candidate that I think wud be most sensitive to the very accomplishable goal and the other things that can/will help Black people is Sanders.”
Though Coates has now revealed he is voting for Sanders, he does not wish this be interpreted as a formal endorsement.
“But that said, I’m not ‘endorsing’ anyone. I’m voting for who I’m voting for,” Coates tweeted Wednesday. “But that’s me, the citizen. Me, the writer doesn’t speak for anyone else and doesn’t intend to try to sway anyone else.”
