LEMON: Thank you, Secretary.
Senator Sanders, on a personal front, what racial blind spots do you have?
SANDERS: Well, let me just very briefly tell you a story. When I was in one of my first years in Congress, I went to a meeting downtown in Washington, D.C. And I went there with another congressman, an African-American congressman. And then we kind of separated during the meeting. And then I saw him out later on. And he was sitting there waiting and I said, well, lets go out and get a cab. How come you didnt go out and get a cab?
He said, no, I dont get cabs in Washington, D.C. This was 20 years ago. Because he was humiliated by the fact that cabdrivers would go past him because he was black. I couldnt believe, you know, you just sit there and you say, this man did not take a cab 20 years ago in Washington, D.C. Tell you another story, I was with young people active in the Black Lives Matter movement. A young lady comes up to me and she says, you dont understand what police do in certain black communities. You dont understand the degree to which we are terrorized, and Im not just talking about the horrible shootings that we have seen, which have got to end and weve got to hold police officers accountable, Im just talking about every day activities where police officers are bullying people.
So to answer your question, I would say, and I think its similar to what the secretary said, when youre white, you dont know what its like to be living in a ghetto. You dont know what its like to be poor. You dont know what its like to be hassled when you walk down the street or you get dragged out of a car.
And I believe that as a nation in the year 2016, we must be firm in making it clear. We will end institutional racism and reform a broken criminal justice system.
