Sen. Bernie Sanders has in many ways become the figurehead of the national progressive movement, but leaders of color in Vermont say his spotty track record on racial justice issues could undermine his status as its leader.
Now, those same advocates are trying to lay the groundwork for what they hope will be a more collaborative relationship with Sanders in the future.
Sanders, as well as an institute that bears his name, have come under fire in recent days for failing to invite Vermont-based social justice advocates to a three-day gathering in Burlington.
In an open letter to Sanders and the Sanders Institute, more than a dozen racial and social justice advocates said that “Vermonters in marginalized positions” have found themselves “excluded from the movement” that Sanders is trying to foster.
Steffen Gillom, president of the Windham County branch of the NAACP, said the critique is intended to unite, not to divide.
“And that’s why I’m urging Sen. Sanders … to really hear what we’re saying as an honest critique, so that they can move forward in a more holistic manner,” Gillom said. “And if they don’t hear what we’re saying, there may be consequences, because we want a progressive movement, but we want the progressive movement that we have always dreamed of, that we feel is close, as our demographics change.”
The recent Sanders Institute Gathering brought together progressive luminaries from around the world for a three-day event in Burlington. Sha’an Mouliert, who’s been working on racial justice issues in the Northeast Kingdom for decades, said influential social justice leaders in Vermont were noticeably absent from the guest list.
“It wasn’t only that we were not at the table, that we weren’t invited at the table, but it was another manifestation of how we are excluded,” Mouliert said. “To so blatantly be ignored in our own backyard … in some senses could tarnish what we do.”
Wafic Faour, founder of Vermonters for Justice in Palestine, said advocates want to use the controversy as a springboard to a more productive relationship with the senator.
“We are not here ... because we are angry. Not at all. We are trying just to make a wake-up call,” Faour said. “On this event, Sanders Institute dismissed everything we do every day. So we are telling him: ‘If these slogans are valid, he’s supposed to invite us to talk and to be on the table when we make decisions.’”
"We are not here ... because we are angry. Not at all. We are trying just to make a wake-up call." — Wafic Faour, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine
Advocates, however, said the responses to their critiques have thus far missed the mark.
Sanders’ spokesman, Dan McLean,said in a written statement that the senator’s office “is not connected in any way to the Sanders Institute.” McLean also said that Sanders “is proud that the Sanders Institute was able to bring progressives from all over the country and from throughout the world to our state of Vermont to discuss some of the biggest issues we face.”
The Sanders Institute, meanwhile, said: “There seems to be some confusion about what this event was, and was not, about.”
“The Sanders Institute Gathering was not a Vermont meeting sponsored by Senator Sanders,” the institute said in a written statement. “It was a gathering of progressive leaders from across the country and around the world hosted by The Sanders Institute.
Tabitha Pohl-Moore, president of the Rutland-area branch of the NAACP, said advocates want Sanders, and the institute, to acknowledge the validity of their criticism. And she said advocates stand ready to help Sanders broaden a movement for which many social justice leaders have great optimism.
“We want to sit down with Bernie and the Institute to assess how they got it wrong. We say, ‘let’s figure out … what needs to happen so that it doesn’t happen again,’” Pohl-Moore said in a Facebook post recently.
Pohl-Moore said she hopes Sanders, and the Sanders Institute, will develop “a system of checks and balances.”
“So when they host an event, at least someone is asking who has been left out,” Pohl-Moore said.
Beverly Little Thunder, founder of Kunsi Keya Tamakoce, a nonprofit that celebrates her Lakota heritage, said it’s critical that advocates like her not be “left out” again.
“Because the progressive movement is my hope for my children and my grandchildren’s future,” Little Thunder said. “And it’s not going to grow if things like this continue to happen.”
