Hillary Clinton Isn't Only Against Reparations, She Accepted Money From Prison Lobbyists

Berniewood Hogan

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Hillary Clinton Isn't Only Against Reparations, She Accepted Money from Prison Lobbyists

First and foremost, Ta-Nehisi Coates is a brilliant journalist and I agree with him onthe case for reparations. Everyone should read his groundbreaking piece in The Atlantic titled The Case for Reparations. It highlights why the African American experience is unique in every way, from slavery and Jim Crow, to the Civil Rights era and today's lasting effects in the black community from such devastating chapters in U.S. history.

Like Coates, I too wish Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley would support reparations (especially since African Americans vote over 90 percent Democrat), however this isn't the case. For the record, I support reparations.

However, when Coates asks why Bernie Sanders fails to address white supremacy, and completely ignores Hillary Clinton's "abysmal" record on racial justice, as well as numerous other ties held by both Clintons to the structural injustices currently faced by African Americans, Latinos, and other communities, then some context is needed.

There's only one leading Democratic candidate in 2016 who embodies white supremacy, privilege and financial ties to the economic and political system defining these concepts. The other leading Democratic candidate is named Bernie Sanders, and his political philosophy has been likened to Martin Luther King's by Dr. Cornell West, Ohio State Senator Nina Turner, and rap artist Killer Mike.

Therefore, let's look at why Hillary Clinton, not Bernie Sanders, should be singled out as furthering white supremacy and privilege.

Hillary Clinton ran a controversial 3 a.m. ad against Barack Obama in 2008 that Harvard's Orlando Patterson believes contained a "racist sub-message." Upon viewing the images within Clinton's political advertisement, Patterson wrote that "I couldn't help but think of D. W. Griffith's 'Birth of a Nation.'"

Here's the video of Clinton's 3 a.m. ad against our nation's first African American president.

Is there a reason the Clinton campaign showed sleeping children in the middle of the night, when running against an African American candidate?

Harvard's Orlando Patterson and others believed there were numerous reasons, and stated, "The danger implicit in the phone ad -- as I see it -- is that the person answering the phone might be a black man, someone who could not be trusted to protect us from this threat."

Then, when Obama's campaign accused Clinton's staff of "dirty tricks" in 2008 (for circulating a photo of Barack Obama in African attire), his campaign manager David Plouffe stated that such tactics represented "the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we've seen from either party in this election."

Then of course, Obama referred to Hillary as "Annie Oakley," primarily because she portrayed herself as a "Pro-Gun Churchgoer" eight years ago.

In a complete reversal from today's loyal Obama supporter, and gun control advocate, Clinton once stated that Obama was "kind of elitist and out of touch." On his stance pertaining to why Americans cling to guns, Clinton said "I disagree with Senator Obama's assertion that people in our country cling to guns and have certain attitudes about immigration or trade simply out of frustration."

So, Hillary Clinton ran a political ad deemed to have a "racist sub-message" by a Harvard sociologist, engaged in "dirty tricks" deemed to be "offensive fear-mongering" by Obama's campaign manager (not to mention her defense of gun owners back then), and recently accepted money from prison lobbyists, but it's Bernie Sanders who's soft on white supremacy?

Hillary Clinton had financial ties to prison lobbyists up until recently and Bill Clinton's record on mass incarceration speaks for itself. Clinton's ties to mass incarceration are highlighted in a Vice article titled Hillary Clinton Shuns Private Prison Cash, Activists Want Others to Follow Suit:



It only took Hillary Clinton six months after first calling for sweeping criminal justice reform and an end to mass incarceration for her to announce on Thursday that she would no longer accept direct donations from private prison lobbyists...


Clinton's decision reportedly came after a series of meetings with several minority advocacy groups that have been demanding that 2016 candidates address the excesses of America's sprawling criminal justice system, including mass incarceration, overcrowded jails, and poor prison conditions, among other issues.

Clinton's Ready for Hillary PAC has received $133,246 from lobbying firms linked to GEO and CCA. That figure was slightly lower than the $133,450 Rubio's PACs and campaign have accepted from private prison companies or groups that lobby on their behalf.




Someone needs to define white supremacy, if indeed accepting money from prison lobbyists isn't an egregious example of privilege and supremacy. On the bright side, at least Clinton accepted less money from prison lobbyists than Marco Rubio.

If you pontificate about privilege and supremacy, make sure to follow the money first, and see if prison lobbyists and Wall Street have funded your candidate.

The fact is that Bernie Sanders never accepted money from prison lobbyists.

As for the history of mass incarceration, Bill Clinton's role in this plague is highlighted in a 2001 Los Angeles Times piece titled Federal and State Prison Populations Soared Under Clinton, Report Finds:



The federal and state prison populations rose more under former President Bill Clinton than under any other president, according to a report from a criminal justice institute to be released today.


In fact, the analysis of U.S. Justice Department statistics by the left-leaning Justice Policy Institute, a project of a San Francisco-based justice center, found that more federal inmates were added to prisons under Clinton than under presidents George Bush and Ronald Reagan combined.


From opposing a federal commission's push for equalization of drug sentences for powder cocaine and crack cocaine to embracing a 1994 crime bill that accelerated the rate of prison construction, the Democratic president often stole the show from "tough-on-crime" Republicans, the study said.



Yes, Clinton's presidency saw more Americans incarcerated than "under presidents George Bush and Ronald Reagan combined."

While Hillary Clinton says she'll curtail private prisons, even as she accepted prison lobbyist money (if this makes sense to you, then you're voting for Clinton), only Bernie Sanders has a concrete plan to actually end private prisons. This plan is highlighted in a Think Progress piece titled Bernie Sanders Unveils Ambitious Plan To End Private Prisons:



Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is officially taking on the country's private prison industry. By introducing a bill that would ban government contracts with private prisons, the presidential contender is quickly becoming the loudest advocate for criminal justice reform among his competitors.


"Study after study after study has shown private prisons are not cheaper, they are not safer, and they do not provide better outcomes for either the prisoners or the state," Sanders said at a press conference Thursday.



Where is Hillary Clinton's detailed plan to end private prisons?

Finally, South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn confronted both Clintons in 2008 over their rhetoric against Obama. Hillary Clinton's loss to Obama in South Carolina caused another controversy, as illustrated in a 2008 New York Timespiece titled Black Leader in the House Sharply Criticizes Bill Clinton:



The black leader, Representative James E. Clyburn, an undeclared superdelegate from South Carolina and the third-ranking Democrat in the House, said "black people are incensed over all of this."


...Mr. Clyburn added that there appeared to be an almost unanimous view among African-Americans that Mr. and Mrs. Clinton were committed to doing everything they possibly could to damage Mr. Obama to a point that he could never win in the general election.



Was it white supremacy when "Mr. and Mrs. Clinton were committed to doing everything they possibly could to damage Mr. Obama"? Or just politics among Democrats? Or both?

Bill and Hillary Clinton are the embodiment of the status quo, and while they'll say the right things to whomever their audience happens to be, they'll also accept money from prison lobbyists and run racist political ads.

With Bernie Sanders, you have a candidate tackling not only private prisons and mass incarceration, but a person who says "I'll be damned" to quagmires and perpetual wars. Militarized police departments are a direct consequence of perpetual American wars, so that's another reason Hillary Clinton's "neocon" foreign policy hurts everyone.

Clinton and Sanders don't support reparations. Only Clinton, however, has a history with prison lobbyists and other elements of structural injustice.

I explain why Bernie Sanders will win a landslide victory on The Benjamin Dixon Show, the reasons he'll become president on The Thom Hartmann Show, and why I'm only voting for Bernie Sanders in this YouTube segment.

Follow H. A. Goodman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/HAGOODMANAUTHOR
 

tru_m.a.c

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Coates singling out Bernie was ridiculous. Anyone pigging back on his "outrage" towards Bernie was extremely misguided.

I'd be terribly disappointed if Coates got ringed into a hit job for Hillary.

I believe he did it just to keep everyone's emotions balanced. The reason I say that is before his article, we didn't actually know everyone's opinion on reparations.
 

Regular_P

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I'd be terribly disappointed if Coates got ringed into a hit job for Hillary.

I believe he did it just to keep everyone's emotions balanced. The reason I say that is before his article, we didn't actually know everyone's opinion on reparations.
Keep people's emotions balanced for what though? People aren't allowed to be excited about Bernie's platforms, which pretty much all would benefit the vast majority of Americans, including non-whites?

It wouldn't be out of the question that it was a hit job for Hillary. Has he said why he singled Sanders out and didn't mention any other candidates? It certainly came out of nowhere and right at the time Sanders is overtaking Clinton in the polls.

Does he really think a candidate is going to come out and campaign on reparations in 2016, particularly one that has a legit shot at being elected president?
 

rapbeats

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@rapbeats @tmonster

Coates singling out Bernie was ridiculous. Anyone pigging backing on his "outrage" towards Bernie was extremely misguided.
i watched the debates and i saw when bernie said it. and i felt the exact same way. "ohhh so thats how you feel bernie. welll da... if thats how you feel and you're mr progressive, aint no way we getting reparations."

the key words were when he said it would be divisive. see if bernie would've tippy toed around it that would've made more sense. but he kept it 1000 like he always does. bernie belives reparations is divisive. to me there's a difference between divisive in that context and explaining to people this is something these people are owed whether you like it or not, whites owe these people. and him being jewish knowing we paid millions to israel . knowing we've paid off the japanese, and other groups. so all of a sudden its too divisive to right a wrong. stop it.
 

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Keep people's emotions balanced for what though? People aren't allowed to be excited about Bernie's platforms, which pretty much all would benefit the vast majority of Americans, including non-whites?

It wouldn't be out of the question that it was a hit job for Hillary. Has he said why he singled Sanders out and didn't mention any other candidates? It certainly came out of nowhere and right at the time Sanders is overtaking Clinton in the polls.

Does he really think a candidate is going to come out and campaign on reparations in 2016, particularly one that has a legit shot at being elected president?
single sanders out? LOL> he singled him out because sanders SEEMS to be the best candidate for black people. and he seems to be an honest dude. You get a guy thats as far left as he is in comparison to the others. you would think he might get it. but he doesnt or i should say he does but doesnt want to do anything about it. there's no reason to bring up hil in this scenario. if hill said that, that woudl be par for the course. the idiot black folks that still ride with hill after she showed her racist colors during the her vs obama campaignl, would still ride with her after hearing that.

and no one is even listening to O'malley.lol
 

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single sanders out? LOL> he singled him out because sanders SEEMS to be the best candidate for black people. and he seems to be an honest dude. You get a guy thats as far left as he is in comparison to the others. you would think he might get it. but he doesnt or i should say he does but doesnt want to do anything about it. there's no reason to bring up hil in this scenario. if hill said that, that woudl be par for the course. the idiot black folks that still ride with hill after she showed her racist colors during the her vs obama campaignl, would still ride with her after hearing that.

and no one is even listening to O'malley.lol
There's no reason to tear down a candidate as progressive as Sanders over reparations. It's not like there's been some mass movement or national protests over them. :stopitslime:
 

Pifferry

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i watched the debates and i saw when bernie said it. and i felt the exact same way. "ohhh so thats how you feel bernie. welll da... if thats how you feel and you're mr progressive, aint no way we getting reparations."

the key words were when he said it would be divisive. see if bernie would've tippy toed around it that would've made more sense. but he kept it 1000 like he always does. bernie belives reparations is divisive. to me there's a difference between divisive in that context and explaining to people this is something these people are owed whether you like it or not, whites owe these people. and him being jewish knowing we paid millions to israel . knowing we've paid off the japanese, and other groups. so all of a sudden its too divisive to right a wrong. stop it.
There's no comparison with reparations paid years after the act's occurred, and reparations more than 100 years down the line (not really more than 100 years because the wrongs continued, but from the time that they should have came).
Is it unfair? Yes.
But not every wrong can be righted in the ideal way.
It would be far too much of a hassle logistically to find who to pay reparations to, how much to pay in reparations, and after they would be paid how do you think non-black people would react to claims of racism/systematic racism? With even more disdain and disregard than now.
Plus giving black people checks with 100,000 or however much money won't fix the actual systematic problems in the government that people fight against, and most people are financially illiterate and would waste it incredibly fast, though I don't know if you're coming at this from a tax break/loans standpoint.
And even then just like with checks, it would be divisive, and even if you don't think that's legitimate, it has the potential to legitimately harm race relations in this country more than they've been in years and not just between black/white people.
And Bernie's other policies are actually popular/feasible, reparations on the other hand would NEVER be voted for, even most black people are probably against them.
There's literally no comparison between them, no hypocrisy on Bernie's part.
 

88m3

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I think we have more pressing issues to deal with than reparations.


I'm not against the idea but I'm not sure if it would be the positive influence/outcome some African Americans hope for.
 

Berniewood Hogan

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There's no reason to tear down a candidate as progressive as Sanders over reparations. It's not like there's been some mass movement or national protests over them. :stopitslime:
CONGRESSMAN JOHN CONYERS HAS BEEN TRYING TO INTRODUCE REPARATIONS BILLS FOR A LONG TIME AND I'VE NEVER SEEN A GROUNDSWELL OF SUPPORT FOR HIM FROM THE PUBLIC, BROTHER! PROGRESSIVE AMERICANS REALLY NEED TO PAY MORE ATTENTION TO OFFICES BESIDES THE PRESIDENCY, DUDE!
 
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