Sanders, South Carolina, and the Mystique of the “Black Vote”

Join PHL DSA, Labor for Bernie, and Jacobin for a virtual panel as part of Jacobin's Stay at Home series.

According to political pundits, the South Carolina primary marked the end of Bernie's political revolution. Joe Biden’s flagging campaign unexpectedly returned to frontrunner status following victories in South Carolina and several other Southern states, leading the mainstream media to declare that the “black vote” had rescued Credit Card Joe. But, even in states Biden won, strong majorities of Democratic voters registered their support for Medicare for All, free higher education, and even “socialism” itself. How do we make sense of an electoral landscape where Sanders’ issues are winning, but the candidate himself is not? What function does the mystification of race play in American politics, and how do we move beyond the harmful narratives surrounding a monolithic “black vote”? Join PHL DSA, Labor for Bernie, and Jacobin for a discussion with Adolph Reed Jr., Willie Legette, and Cedric Johnson, moderated by Michael Brooks.

Adolph Reed Jr. is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania and Organizer for the Debs-Jones-Douglas Institute’s Medicare for All-South Carolina campaign. Cedric Johnson is an Associate Professor of African American studies and Political Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Willie Legette is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at South Carolina State University and Lead Organizer for the Debs-Jones-Douglas Institute’s Medicare for All-South Carolina campaign. The discussion will be moderated by Michael Brooks, host of a weekly politics and culture analysis podcast, "The Michael Brooks Show," and author of Against the Web: A Cosmopolitan Answer to the New Right.  

View the livestream to participate live; a recording will also be posted to the YouTube channel after the event.