John Lewis Says He Did Not Mean to Disparage Sanders Civil Rights Activism

Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 01:54 pm

When he endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) said that he “never saw” Bernie Sanders during the 1960s struggle for civil rights. “I never saw him. I never met him,” were his exact words.

Given Lewis’ own prominent role, the 1961 Freedom Riders, the 1963 March on Washington, not to mention Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama in 1965, where he was beaten by the police, it is no surprise that many took his words to suggest that Sanders had not been an advocate of civil rights.

On Saturday, Lewis explained that he was not claiming “that Senator Sanders participated in the civil rights movement, neither was I attempting to disparage his activism.”

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“I was responding to a reporter’s question who asked me to assess Senator Sanders’ civil rights record. I said that when I was leading and was at the center of pivotal actions within the civil rights movement, I did not meet Senator Bernie Sanders at any time.

“The fact that I did not meet him in the movement does not mean I doubted that Senator Sanders participated in the civil rights movement, neither was I attempting to disparage his activism. Thousands sacrificed in the 1960s whose names we will never know, and I have always given honor to their contribution.”

Lewis did not see Sanders, but the Vermont senator was also at the 1963 March on Washington. He was even arrested at a civil rights demonstration. He was an activist then just as he is an activist now. Unlike Donald Trump, Sanders did not begin as one thing and become another.

The Georgia representative also clarified his relationship with the Clintons:

“My point was that when I was doing the work of civil rights, led the Voter Education Project and organized voter registration in the south in the 1970s, I did cross paths with Hillary and Bill Clinton in the field. They were working in politics, and Bill Clinton became attorney general of Arkansas in the 1970s as well.

“That began a relationship with them that has lasted until today.”

Lewis can say now he didn’t mean it, but it sounded very much as though he were saying that by virtue of his not seeing Sanders, that Sanders was not there. Of course, neither did he see the Clintons, as he admits now, until the 1970s. That was a very damaging implication at a time when Hillary Clinton is a clear leader among black voters.

The Democratic primary takes place just a week from now in South Carolina, and Lewis’ explanation may be have come too late to undo the damage caused by his earlier remarks.

Hrafnkell Haraldsson

Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.