Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is presented with a blanket during a visit to the Puyallup Reservation in Washington on March 22, 2016. Photo from Hillary Clinton / Facebook

What if Bernie Sanders does not win the Democratic presidential nomination? Gyasi Ross, the editor at large for Indian Country Today, will be voting for and supporting Hillary Clinton if it comes down to it:

Trump stinks and Hillary is also a profoundly flawed candidate, one that has consistently been on the wrong side of history and policy as it relates to people of color. She’s an anachronism, a reminder of machine politics when Democrats could and would take the votes of people of color for granted because where else are they going to go?

All those critiques are true. For example, Hillary hasn’t shown any real commitment to reaching Native people or a commitment to championing any substantive positions for Natives in any public space in 2016. She hasn’t done nearly the outreach to Native communities that Bernie has—the Hillary campaign could learn a lot from Bernie’s outreach to Native voters this cycle and should adopt Bernie’s platform toward Native Nations. That would be revolutionary. Likewise, she has never shown any meaningful consideration to her “firewall,” the black community. It does look like she’s finally slightly considering the voices of black organizers and the impact of her support of mass incarceration/three-strikes laws. Yet I see that as more of a testament to those black organizers’ work than to Hillary soul-searching and finding value in black lives.

There would be nothing idealistic, aspirational or progressive about a vote for Hillary over Trump. My vote would simply be for the lesser of two evils, two candidates that have histories of harming brown and black people. But one candidate—Trump—has made explicit intent to harm more brown people part of his presidential platform. If Hillary began to embrace Bernie’s platform on Native people and disavowed her history of interventionism, it would make it somewhat easier, but still not aspirational.

Get the Story:
Gyasi Ross: The Lesser of Two Evils: Why I Would Vote For Hillary If Bernie Did Not Win the Nomination (Indian Country Today 5/3)

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