Bernie Sanders latest racial blind spot: Hillarys right on gun control urban vs. rural really means black vs. white
Sanders' remarks on "rural" gun owners did have unsavory racial implications. It's good for Clinton to call it out[...]
No doubt Clinton is poking a weak spot in her opponents case, but Saletan is also missing the forest for the trees here. Sanders most likely didnt intend for his talking point about rural vs. urban gun ownership to have any racial implications. But those implications are nonetheless there. I doubt that Clinton or any of the other people troubled by his remarks believe he is speaking out of anything but ignorance. But that ignorance is still a problem.[...]
If youre familiar with this history and rhetoric, its not hard to hear the racial implications of suggesting that "rural" folks are responsible, safe gun users while "urban" folks are not. On the contrary, its hard not to hear that. Sanders may mean well, but his constituents who insist that they are just wholesome gun owners, unlike some people, probably do not mean well.
Is Clinton using this fact to garner support? Absolutely. But the bigger picture is this. Racism fuels much of the opposition to gun control. We live in a country where black men (or boys) have been shot for holding toy guns or even just a toy sword in one case. "I thought he had a gun," is the excuse we expect after police shoot unarmed black men.[...]
Theres no use in denying that race is an issue in how people think about gun control and the threat of gun violence. If Clinton scores a political point on this, well, good. Maybe Sanders will rethink that horrible talking point about rural people. Whether he intends to or not, he is perpetuating ugly stereotypes about who is and isnt responsible.