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submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[-] [email protected] 91 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

This isn't at all the gotcha this person thinks it is.

Martin Luther King Jr. called for nonviolent resistance. The people resisted nonviolently, including Bernie Sanders. The media lied and called them violent, but MLK Jr. continued to call for nonviolent resistance in the face of that, and it worked.

Here, Bernie Sanders is doing the exact same thing. He's not suggesting that the protestors are violent any more than Dr. King was, as satirized by the propaganda cartoon. He's just doing the exact same thing - call for nonviolent resistance. No more, no less.

I know nuance is dead, but it is just insane to think this is a "gotcha." This person is the one "leaning into the hysteria" by assuming a call for action by itself is actually a condemnation of the protests.

[-] [email protected] 33 points 6 days ago

See if you can spot the difference between Bernie's statement and MLK's:

Let me say as I've always said, and I will always continue to say, that riots are socially destructive and self-defeating. ... But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation's summers of riots are caused by our nation's winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again.

I don't think it's at all unreasonable to criticize Bernie for leaving that second part unsaid. Not to mention the point Hasan was making, which was picking this moment to talk about nonviolence - at a time when Trump is preemptively painting the protests as violent and insurrectionist - affirms Trump's framing and justifies police escalation.

I'm with Hasan here, this was tone-deaf of Bernie, if not completely hypocritical.

Bonus MLK quote:

These are the times for real choices and not false ones. We are at the moment when our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.

[-] [email protected] 9 points 6 days ago

MLK Jr.'s speech on riots being the voice of the unheard was powerful, and stabbed at the heart of a complex issue.

But a year before that speech, here's what he had to say about the Watts riots:

“What did Watts accomplish but the death of thirty-four Negroes and injury to thousands more? What did it profit the Negro to burn down the stores and factories in which he sought employment? The way of riots is not a way of progress, but a blind ally of death and destruction which wrecks its havoc hardest against the rioters themselves” (King, 12 March 1966).

[-] [email protected] 6 points 6 days ago

Uhhh, yes, he did say that.... While addressing black americans living in the slums of Chicago, pleading with them not to "strike out with revenge against white people for the many wrongs perpetrated against you and yours".

I don't really think there's any comparison between the Watts riots and the nature of the LA protests, not even close.

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[-] [email protected] 14 points 5 days ago

Didn't MLK also work because the Black Panthers were lurking in the background? Either the establishment dealt with MLK or they dealt with the Panthers.

[-] [email protected] 7 points 5 days ago

They actually dealt with both unfortunately

[-] [email protected] 6 points 5 days ago

Nuance was never alive.

[-] [email protected] 10 points 6 days ago

No, Bernie is implying that the protesters are currently protesting violently.

[-] [email protected] 25 points 6 days ago

He's literally calling for discipline, not to stop protesting. A small minority of people were being violent. I think you're looking for things to be upset about.

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[-] [email protected] 15 points 6 days ago

Trump's deployment of the National Guard and Marines in California is not about protests. It is not about ICE. It is not about immigration. It's about [...] his effort to move this country toward Authoritarianism. [...] Trump's argument for deployment of the troops is absurd and laughable. Does anyone really believe that we are in the midst of a "foreign invasion" or a "rebellion" against the United States?

  • Bernie Sanders

It's amazing how much time some people spend worrying about the exact wording used by the small handful of influential people who seem to agree with them on an issue.

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[-] [email protected] 17 points 5 days ago

There was also a vastly different media landscape when Dr. King made his speeches. The level of surveillance now is so much higher that its trivial to find or create footage of violence if you want it.

There is no level of discipline where the media will portray it as anything but violence. I don't think sanders is enterely wrong here, but I understand how in the year 2025 sander's statement is a bit cringe inducing.

[-] [email protected] 9 points 5 days ago

He probably was literally murdered by the surveillance state

[-] [email protected] 17 points 6 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

What are your goals with this post?

Edit

Found more details about Bernie's arrest here: https://medium.com/@ShaunKing/you-dont-really-know-who-bernie-sanders-was-in-the-1960s-79628016125f

I know it wasn't the point of this post, but thanks for teaching me about this bit of history! This helped me understand why he emphasized discipline.

[-] [email protected] 15 points 6 days ago

Have people understand that being a progressive does not mean blindly following Bernie Sanders.

Because past Bernie stood for what present Bernie admonishes.

[-] [email protected] 17 points 6 days ago

I won't pretend to know much about Bernie's history, but I do have a couple of thoughts with which you may or may not agree.

  1. We should never blindly follow any politician.
  2. Politicians should be expected to change/evolve. It's probably a good idea to consider the delta to understand each politician's trajectory.

Out of curiosity, do you prefer past or present Bernie?

[-] [email protected] 5 points 5 days ago

Past Bernie is the guy in the left image of the original Tweet. Who was attacked with the same slander as present Bernie is spewing.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 5 days ago

Alright this got me curious, so I researched the matter further. I do believe you are wrong here.

From what I can gather, Bernie was arrested for being chained together with others to protest the installation of Willis Wagons. This was nonviolent. When the police arrested him, he kicked, screamed, and resisted the entire way.

Source: https://medium.com/@ShaunKing/you-dont-really-know-who-bernie-sanders-was-in-the-1960s-79628016125f

[-] [email protected] 5 points 5 days ago

The protests Bernie was part of were accused of being violent regardless of how Bernie and the majority of people protesting behaved. That’s the point. Hell if he resisted arrest in anyways today they might try to charge him with assaulting a police officer.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago

I understand they were accused of being violent. The descriptions I read didn't seem violent though, although they might be inaccurately biased.

I think protesters will always be accused of violence whenever possible. I just don't understand how this makes Bernie's statement inconsistent.

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[-] [email protected] 25 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

There is no protest against the status-quo that the press (including "the liberal press") can't depict as violent. You have seen the female Australian reporter being targeted with a rubber bullet on camera only to have her own channel report it as her "being caught in the crossfire" right? Hasan was out there for two days documenting the incredible violent reaction of law enforcement to what has been almost completely non violent protests against the unlawful kidnappings of immigrants. He knows what he is talking about. If your concern is not the well being of the protesters but three fucking waymos or people waving Mexican flags, you are just self-reporting.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 6 days ago

Rubber-coated bullet*

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[-] [email protected] 7 points 6 days ago

This comment section shows exactly why we should be wary of those who label themselves as progressive vs leftist or socialist/communist.

Y’all clearly aren’t trustworthy. Reformists who see themselves as reasoned revolutionaries. You still reflexively shove that boot in your mouth on command.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago

Seriously. At this point the majority of violence being carried out against protesters in order to protect ICE is being done by local law enforcement. State and city level democrats are not resisting Trump. They’re just mad that he doesn’t realize that they’re on the same team.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago

would you rather a sitting US senator call for escalation and violence

[-] [email protected] 11 points 5 days ago
[-] [email protected] 9 points 5 days ago

in the face of his boss and his boss’s boss doing the same thing but to a much worse degree… yes? americans should be defending themselves from federal agents by any means necessary.

like it or not if the world only had MLKs we would live in a society that practices blood sacrifice or some absurdist shit. you need your Malcom X’s at times like this because the unfortunate reality is that the only power that begets peace in the face of political violence is often more extreme political violence.

sitting and doing performative takes on how we need to remain “nonviolent” or “peaceful” in the face of literal armed government goons coming into our cities against our will is peak pussy shit and you guys are all shameful for going so hard on that take. have some self fucking respect. will you be clamoring for peaceful protest when they’re deporting your family to an unmarked government camp somewhere across the world? no? so why do you think it should be any different for the people it has already happened to?

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this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2025
222 points (81.4% liked)

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