Bernie Sanders needs to polish up his response regarding reparations, he clearly doesn't believe in a cash payout to the black community and he just needs to come out and say it like it is .. he speaks with so much conviction and passion regarding all other issues but this is one that has him stuttering/stammering and it makes him come off like he's supplicating the black vote.
His agenda already impacts the black community more than anybody else -- he needs to have confidence in that message and just tell it like it is even if it's going to turn off a certain collection of folks who won't be able to look past his "hard no" to reparations.
Also, on the surface i understand why Bernie Sanders is getting so much criticism on this issue, where other candidates may not be. Sanders, whether he likes it or not, is a typical looking old old white man running for office, and old white men running for office have dominated washington for centuries and none of those people have been looking out for black folks. So he has to fight off dozens of years of typical white male stigma/stereotype politicians have earned with black and minority communities.