Photo Credits: (c) 2016 Harold Michael Harvey
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, CASCADE PRESS (CP)
Bernie Sanders vows to win the Georgia Presidential Preference Primary which will be held on March 1. Sanders made his pledge to win in Georgia during a campaign stop on his Historical Black College and Universities (HBCU) Tour on Tuesday at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.
Students from Georgia Tech, Georgia State University and other Atlanta University Center schools joined students from Morehouse College and other interested supporters in a packed Forbes Arena. The arena is named “in honor of the legendary Morehouse coach and administrator, Franklin LaFayette Forbes” and has a seating capacity of 6,000. Every seat in the house was full and practically every inch of the basketball court held an overflow crowd in the neighborhood of 4,000 more supporters.
The Georgia primary is part of the so called SEC primary, which draws its name from the fact that several states holding primaries that day are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Southeastern Conference.
Sanders spent much of Tuesday in South Carolina shoring up his support among leaders in the African American community. South Carolina will hold its primary on Saturday. Recent polls show that Sanders has cut into the 30 percentage point lead that Hillary Clinton has held much of the polling season. Polls from South Carolina now have Clinton with only a 19 percentage point lead.
Photo Credits: (c) 2016 Harold Michael Harvey
On Tuesday, Sanders began his address by telling his audience that when he began his campaign he was “50 points behind in Iowa” and that the “Iowa Caucus ended in a “virtual tie.”
He basked in the glow of the his recent thumping of Clinton in New Hampshire and said, “the run to the White House doesn’t seem so impossible now.”
Then Sanders said that “I started out way, way, behind in Georgia, but I think we will win in Georgia.”
Forbes Arena exploded in applause.
In recent days, several key African American Democrats in Georgia have thrown their support behind Sanders. Among them is State Senator Vincent Fort, a 2017 candidate for mayor of Atlanta and a former supporter of Clinton.
Fort, introduced Sanders. He told the crowd, “We have to make Bernie Sanders the next President of the United States.”
Also sharing center stage with Sanders was Dr. John Eaves, who is serving his third term as Chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commission, and prominent attorney and former Fulton County Commissioner Gordon Joyner.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Fifth Congressional District Congressman John Lewis leveled sharp criticism against Sanders last weekend alleging that Sanders was not a bona fide civil rights activist. Lewis quickly backtracked a day later after intense national outrage over his dismissive remarks about Sanders’ involvement in the civil rights movement.
In spite of this criticism, Sanders was upbeat in what Morehouse students and alumni affectionately call, “The House;” and in the style of football legend Joe Namath, predicted a win in Georgia in two weeks.
Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist, the author of Paper puzzle and Justice in the Round. He can be contacted at haroldmichaelharvey.com.
IT seems as if Mr Sanders is already preparing for his impending loss to Hilary Clinton when his focus is so much on “Closing the Gap” as opposed to just winning.He speaks of “Free College” for Public Colleges and State Universities but did anyone remind him that 50% of HBCUs are PRIVATE and how does he plan to address those students given the fact that the Government has cut back on Student Loans for Black Colleges and Universities?Am I suppose to just ignore that as an HBCU Alum? Part of my problem with John Lewis is that he does not stand firm on his position. He simply was stating a fact. He said he never met Bernie Sanders in his travels,marches, or work during the Civil Rights Movement. Thats not dismissive of the thousands who “Participated” whose names are unknown.He was simply being Honest. Bernie implies that he is some Civil Rights Icon but I am more interested in his Record on Civil Rights as a Congressman than I am him Marching with King or joing CORE..What Bills has he authored that aided in the welfare of Black folks?Mr Fort says we have to Make Mr Sanders the Next President but he does not say WHY.Because he said so? And I would like to know if he loses Georgia will he come back to the state and apologize for lying?Well, I have pontificated enough. Peace!!!
State Senator Fort did enumerate a list of reason why he believes Sanders should be elected. Those reason were not in this report and should be charged as an error of omission by the journalist and not to Sen. Fort. Also, the questions you raise of Sanders could very well be asked of each of the candidates in the race. Moreover, the problems you raise about free college tuition can’t be viewed in the same prism as the current system of funding higher education. As I understand Sander’s plan, it would address the deficiencies you reference.