Bernie Sanders Speaks On Racism, Immigration and Inequality

Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spoke out against racism and advocated for significant immigration reform on Monday, contesting media criticism that he has failed to connect with African-American and Latin American communities.

Sanders spoke at the National Council of La Raza,  the largest Latino advocacy group in the U.S., to share his views on racism, immigration reform and economic inequality in the country.

After recognizing the history of racism that “has played in the United States since its inception,” including the near-genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement of black Africans, Sanders said that progress has been made in “overcoming racism and defeating it.”

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In reference to the controversial anti-Mexican statements made by his Republican counterpart Donald Trump, he said that “no one, not Donald Trump nor anyone else, will be successful in dividing us based on race or our country of origin.”

In a country that hosts 11 million undocumented people, mostly from Mexico and other Latin American countries, immigration reform was a key speaking point in Sanders’ address to Latino voters.    

“Let us be frank, today’s undocumented workers play an extraordinary role in our economy... undocumented workers are doing the extremely difficult work of harvesting our crops, building our homes, cooking our meals, and caring of our children,” Sanders affirmed to a cheering crowd. “They are part of the fabric of America.”

America becomes a greater nation when we stand together as one people and in a loud and clear voice we say no to racism and bigotry.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 13, 2015

In his speech, Sanders criticized current government policies towards undocumented people and swore he would make the path to citizenship affordable and achievable.

“I believe there should be a responsible path to citizenship, so that individuals can come out of the shadows, people can walk the streets with safety, people can hold their hands high.” 

In addition to tackling racism and immigration, Sanders talked about broader issues like addressing unemployment, income inequality, minimum wage and universal free access to basic social services like education and healthcare.

“Instead of building more jails and locking up more people, maybe just maybe, we should be investing in jobs and education for our young people. I want America to be known as  the country with the best educated population in the world, not the country with the most people in jail than any other country.”

Sanders’ speech comes after media experts have criticized him for being exclusively an outspoken critic on economic issues, which fails to connect with the specific problems faced by racial and ethnic minorities.

However, commentators say his track record of having organized sit-ins to protest racial segregation in the 1960s could boost his street cred among African-Americans and Latinos alike.