Hilary Clinton plays the race card in Harlem speech

Black vote Hilary Clinton rebukes Bernie Sanders   in the democratic primaries .. South Carolina, the prize

Photo: AP
Sec Hilary Clinton Democratic presidential candidate. Neck-to-Neck with rival Sen Sanders
 “Big banks and excesses of Wall Street, these are important issues,” Clinton told a packed auditorium in Harlem. “But Flint reminds us, my friends, that there’s a lot more going on in our country that we should be concerned about.”
“The truth is, we aren't a single-issue country,”


Hillary Clinton on Tuesday came for rival Sen Bernie Sanders,  in a speech on the state of race and opportunities in America, she said his fight to end economic inequality substitutes class war for a fight against the systemic racism gripping the country.
“Big banks and excesses of Wall Street, these are important issues,” Clinton told a packed auditorium in Harlem. “But Flint reminds us, my friends, that there’s a lot more going on in our country that we should be concerned about.”

Drawing the contrast, she said Sen Sanders (I, VT) merely addresses racism through the lens of economic inequality, Sec Clinton noted that raising taxes on millionaires and billionaires, Clinton added, singling out her rival's favorite targets, does little to change “the painful reality that African-Americans are nearly three times as likely as whites to be denied a mortgage.” “These are not only problems of economic inequality," she said, "these are problems of racial inequality.”


Photo: Daniel Acker—Getty Images
Sen Bernie Sanders. Democratic rival to Sec Hilary Clinton

“The truth is, we aren't a single-issue country,” she said. “We face a complex set of economic, social and political challenges. … So it's not enough for your economic plan to be break up the banks. You also need a serious plan to create jobs, especially in places where unemployment remains stubbornly high. You need a plan to address the generations of under-investment and neglect.”
The Black vote is a key element in the Clinton matrix for winning the Democratic primaries in south Carolina. A new CNN/ORC poll released Tuesday showed her, leading Sen Sanders by 18 points, but after a lop sided loss in New Hampshire and an unpredictable race ahead in Nevada, South Carolina takes on the look of a must-win  for Clinton, hence the focus on forging support among black national leaders.

Clinton has spent the past week rolling out endorsements from African-American religious leaders in Flint and from the Congressional Black Caucus PAC. While courting the leadership of the NAACP, the National Action Network and the National Urban League. The question remains, is the cream on the top enough?

There are signs the young black voters feel alienated by the recurring and somewhat historic courtship between the Clintons and the Black leadership. Most believe that their leadership have failed them in the past and are somehow complicit in attempts to exonerate Clinton from past policies which led to mass incarceration of black males and significant hardships in the black community. One was quoted as saying "they (black establishment) don't represent me, they don't speak for me". "If you (Clintons) are willing to claim the relationships of the past, you should be willing to accept the consequences of (your) past actions".

South Carolina and the other southern states where the black voting block is significant, will present a test of the ability of the Black national leadership to hold the attention of black youth, today. Can they bridge the gap between the generations, fundamentally there is a chasm in expectations and loyalties simply don't hold. It may yet turn out to be a repeat of 2008, where they failed to deliver against then underdog Barack Obama.

Courtesy Excerpts: politico