I think ignoring the comparison undersells how bad the working class has it.
Frederick Douglass has more leeway to compare things to slavery, being a former slave and all.
The working class has it bad but not quite “no freedom to change jobs or move or have even the most basic human rights” level bad.
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He didn’t say they were exactly the same.
Also most don’t have the freedom to change jobs or move and can have their rights taken away quite easily.
It’s ok to acknowledge Bernie something a little silly 40 years ago. It’s not horrible but it’s still kinda bad.
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This strikes me as the kind of defense you’d be willing to offer Biden.
If Biden made a class conscious statement I would love to see it.
It’s not bad at all. You guys think it belittles the horrors of slavery when it’s actually bringing light to them and showing how little has actually changed over the years.
Where’s Keeeed with the cat paw photo when we need him?
I’m looking forward to the inevitable battle for who was on board first.
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You do not have to reflexively defend everything Sanders has said. It’s an inaccurate comparison, class conscious or not.
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Do you want Bernie to be able to say the N word?
He’s not allowed to use “slave” referring to downtrodden workers. There are other far less inflammatory ways to make his point (which is a good one).
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For the lazy:
“In the country, this conflict is not so apparent; but, in cities, such as Baltimore, Richmond, New Orleans, Mobile etc; it is seen pretty clearly. The slave-holder with a craftiness peculiar to themselves, by encouraging the enmity of the poor, labouring white men against the blacks, succeeds in making the said white men almost as much a slave as the black slave himself. The difference between the white slave, and the black slave, is this: the latter belongs to ONE slave-holder, and the former belongs to ALL the slave-holders, collectively. The white slave has taken from his, by indirection, what the black slave had taken from him, directly, and without ceremony. Both are plundered, and by the same plunderers” (p.309).
Fredrick Douglass
Inaccurate comparison tho. Or he’s allowed to say it because he was a slave so it is accurate but Bernie can’t say it. Or something.
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Hahaha one of the people actually used the N word comparison on Facebook.
Fredrick Douglass was wrong, too.
Not at the time really. Workers have it quite a bit better today than they did in the 1850’s though. Mostly thanks to unions.
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Willing to bet that even Bernie Sanders would say it was a bad comparison. Why not let it go?
Because this defines the whole Sanders movement. The class struggle.
Jeez you better hope not.
Yeah a bad comparison that minimized both the gains of the labor movement and the horrors of slavery is not what defines Bernie thankfully.
I’m from the lower class and we have plenty to struggle about… this comparison was bad in the 70s which is where we should leave it. People said a lot of regrettable things way back when.