This morning the Philadelphia Tribune endorsed Bernie Sanders for President.
Some background on the famous Tribune:
The Philadelphia Tribune is the oldest continually publishing African-American newspaper in the United States.[1] The paper began in 1884 when Christopher J. Perry released its first copy. Throughout its history, The Philadelphia Tribune has been committed to the social, political, and economic advancement of African Americans in the Greater Philadelphia region. During a time when African Americans struggled for equality, the Tribune acted as the "Voice of the black community" for Philadelphia...
The Tribune has a weekly readership of about 625,000, and is mostly read by people living in the Philadelphia-Camden Metro Area, as well as in Chester.[1] The Tribune has received the John B. Russwurm award as "Best Newspaper" in the country seven times since 1995.
The Tribune’s online edition reaches an additional 780,000 readers every week.
The editorial board stated they based their endorsement of Bernie Sanders “on an inspiring message and bold vision for America without the excessive baggage of Clinton”.
The board offered surprisingly blunt and pointed criticism of Hillary Clinton:
Clinton has on many occasions exercised bad judgment on critical issues including her avid support for her husband’s draconian 1994 crime bill which led to a major increase in mass incarceration of African Americans. She may not be responsible for signing the crime bill but she strongly supported it. She has since apologized for her support including her use of the race-coded term “super predator” to describe Black males involved in crime. But her previous stance raises serious questions.
She also exercised bad judgment in giving highly paid speeches to Wall Street, whose reckless speculation help lead the country to the worst recession since the Great Depression. In foreign affairs, she supported the invasion of Iraq and has publicly advocated a far more aggressive approach toward Syria than President Barack Obama. Obama and Sanders opposed the war in Iraq. Sanders is also a strong advocate of Palestinian statehood, which requires considerable courage. The New York Times describes Clinton as more hawkish on military matters than Obama and most Democrats in Congress.
The board emphasized Sanders’s lifelong efforts on behalf of policies for both social justice and the betterment of the African-American community in particular:
Since his days as a student at the University of Chicago protesting against segregation in public schools in Chicago and throughout his political career, Sanders has supported policies and programs that would be in the best interest of all Americans and African Americans, specifically. He has been a consistent fighter for a more just and equitable society.
The paper further writes that Sanders won its endorsement due to his strong advocacy for criminal justice reform, and against mass incarceration and police brutality. It approved as well Sanders’s promotion of free college for all, noting that the plan would disproportionately aid African-Americans as well as alleviate poverty.
The endorsement concluded with a sharp rebuke to those who have criticized Sanders for being (allegedly) unrealistic:
His critics say Sanders proposals are too ambitious, costly and would never get through Congress. They are right that most of his proposals would not pass the current Republican-controlled Congress. His proposals will not happen overnight. But Social Security was also once seen as impossible.
But most of Sanders’ proposals including free tuition at public colleges and universal health care are not new and are already well established government programs in European countries with far less wealth than the United States.
Hear, hear!
Congratulations to Senator Sanders for this very strongly worded endorsement!
Sanders trails front-runner Clinton in the polls for next Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary by wide margins overall — and by even wider margins among African-American Pennsylvanians. We must thus salute this act of principle and political courage on the part of the Philadelphia Tribune editorial board.
Well done!