Bernie Sanders tells Urban League his DOJ will fight all forms of discrimination

In his first speech in Florida since becoming a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, Vermont democratic socialist U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders delivered a searing indictment of the American capitalist system. He   also spoke in strong terms about reforming the criminal justice system, in response to the string black people’s deaths while in detained by or in police custody.

Sanders was the fourth of five presidential candidates to speak Friday morning at the National Urban League’s annual meeting, held at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center.

The 73-year-old Brooklyn native is one of the surprise stories of this political year, as his critiques about income inequality have touched the hearts and minds of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Two nights earlier, Sanders spoke via live streaming video to more than 3,000 house parties across the country to more than 100,000 people. Although he trails front-runner Hillary Clinton by a significant amount in most polls, one survey taken this past week had him within 13 percentage points of her in New Hampshire, where the nation’s first primary election will occur in February.

Speaking to Urban League delegates about the problems in current society, Sanders twice warned the audience that what he had to say might be harsh, but needed to be said.

“I think we have a nation today where a handful of billionaires have an unbelievable influence over the economic and political life of this country,” he said. “There is nothing significant that we will accomplish unless we have the courage to take them on.  And that is what this campaign is about,” he said to polite applause.

He recites statistics that bear out how the extreme wealth in this country is concentrated within a small minority (the 1 percent, if you will).

“The truth of the matter is that we cannot run away from that reality,” he said. “Income and wealth inequality is the great moral issue of our time, it is the great economic issue of our time. It is the great social and political issue of our time, and together we must address that issue.” He again received a round of applause, but hardly the roars that have greeted him on the campaign trail from some of the largest crowds any candidate has received in 2015, including  Donald Trump.

Sanders went on to discuss policies he has espoused: going to a single-payer health care system, pushing for legislation that would make every public college and university in the nation provide free tuition, and calling for a $15 minimum wage.

What distinguished this speech was his emphasis on civil rights. Sanders has been criticized by black activists for not being more inclusive in his message, but he more than compensated for that Friday, beginning by saying, “We need to deal with some hard realities.”

He then went on to provide numbers, such as that one in every four black males born today can expect to spend time in prison during their lifetime. “This is an unspeakable tragedy, and this country can no longer afford that,” he thundered.

He quoted a Department of Justice report that said that blacks are three times more likely to be searched in a traffic stop than white motorists, twice as likely to be arrested, and four times as likely to experience the use of force during encounters with police. He mentioned that 13 percent of black men have lost their right to vote because of felony convictions.

“In my view, we need major changes in criminal justice in America, and as president of the United States,” he said, “I promise you my Justice Department will be vigorous in fighting all forms of discrimination, in every area of our lives. Not only in police matters, but in housing, in credit, in every area that impacts minority populations.”

Along with Maryland Gov. Martin O’ Malley, who also spoke Friday, Sanders took heat from Black Lives Matter activists  at the Netroots Nation conference in Phoenix earlier in July.

After reciting the names of those black men and women who have died at the hands of law enforcement over the past year, Sanders said, “We know their names. Each of them died unarmed at the hands of police officers or in police custody.”

“Let us all be very clear,” he continued. “Violence and brutality of any kind, particularly at the hands of law enforcement, sworn to protect and serve their communities, is unacceptable, and must not be tolerated. We must reform our criminal justice system. Black lives do matter, and we must value black lives.”