Alright, so as a black guy I'm going to try to explain to people why Bernie's comment and other similar comments he's made in the past are troubling and do not resonate with black people. He stated that white people don't know what it's like to be "poor" and/or live in a "ghetto." Now, the statement is problematic for a whole host of reasons but I'm going to trying to break it all down for people to understand, First, the statement is simply false, there are plenty of white people who have and are experiencing poverty in addition to living in "ghettos."
Second, it's part of a larger problem which Bernie has landed himself in where he inadvertently reinforces the notion that black people and poverty go hand in hand. This is troubling as it paints the picture that black people are a child like race who must be raised up by the responsible and caring adult white savior. This is a problem of many ultra-liberal white people, it's simply the liberal side of racism. The republicans paint minorities as moochers who are always trying to take from the government so they can sit on their butts, collect their welfare, and spend it on lottery tickets and 40 oz. beer. However, for liberal democrats the racism is more subtle in that it is veiled in an attempt to "better" black folk and other minorities. Obviously, this notion that blacks need to be cared for and bettered is code-word racism in the guise of smiling white faces. These liberals talk about providing more welfare, food drive programs, free lunches, and inner city education.
But, while these all sound like great things it is part of an underlying narrative that A) all black folks are poor and B) they must be coddled and cared for like children by we wise white people that know what's best for them. Thus, when Bernie Sanders attacks Hilary Clinton because her husband reformed welfare and thus making it less available to minorities he plays right into this narrative. It sounds as if he believes the only issues the black community cares about is welfare and other social programs directed against poverty. However, we are not stupid and we do not need to be talked down to. Black people care about everything else the same as white people including foreign policy, debt relief, free education, health care, etc. We don't just care about "the ghetto."
I want to end with a personal anecdote that should give you an idea what some black people feel when Bernie makes such comments. So, my mother is pretty religious and when I was younger my parents made me and my brothers go to church every other Sunday or so. Now my parents, due to hard work, are pretty well off and live in a very affluent neighborhood and at this time went to the church that was literally at the end of the street where we lived. Now, on this particular day the church was hosting a poor black family from I believe a rougher part of the city for whatever reason.
At the end of the service my mother always likes to hang around to speak with people who live in the area and what not and at some point a very nice white lady comes up and speaks to her. She begins to ask my mother how difficult a trip it was coming all the way up to this church. Obviously, my mother has clued into what is going on this lady believes that because she is black she must be with the same group as the poor family the church was hosting. My mom, being ever so coy, says nothing and just nods her head until soon after one of our neighbors seeing my mother speaking with this other lady goes up to introduce yourself. She of course oblivious to the conversation tells the other lady how my mother lives just down the street in that big house. As my mother tells it the other lady's face went white.
Now, was that lady trying to be a mean-spirited racist? No. But, in her attempt to be caring and understanding she achieved the same effect as any "nigger" calling red neck. That is what Bernie Sanders ends up sounding like at times when he makes those statements.
