Yeah the black community is not a monolith. But Cyan's reasons are definitely a part of why Sanders is struggling so badly in states with lots of minorities.
Speaking personally, I have huge (yuuuge) problems with some of Bill Clinton's policies. His deregulations of the financial sector have had alarming long term consequences.
Further, their mass incarceration policies (esp. "Three Strikes bill") have disproportionately affected people of color far beyond what could ever have been expected.
But if you lived through the crime waves of the 80's & 90's you might remember that Tough on Crime bills were extremely popular: enjoying widespread bipartisan support.
New York LITERALLY used to look like the set of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. It wasn't pretty.
Indeed, many prominent figures in the black community from former-SNCC chairman John Lewis (who stumped for Hillary last month) on down to local pastors ASKED for tougher sentencing laws,
having no idea that Tough on Crime laws were ALL that would come to pass, because social programs treating the disease (poverty) of the War on Drugs, rather than the symptom (gang violence), would never materialize.
So I would venture to guess that there's also a very strong generational divide when it comes to one's feelings about the Clintons. Better the devil that you know, right?
It doesn't help that to a lot of older, more moderate black folk, the word "socialist" is still a pejorative from the Cold War, despite the fact that Social Security & Medicare are genuinely "socialist" programs,
and that Bernie Sanders is actually a "Democratic Socialist," which is hugely different than pure Socialism – a distinction that he hasn't made NEARLY often enough.
Many of my older relatives (East Coast, all of us), are deeply doubtful that someone like Bernie Sanders can win the national election for those reasons,
and the thought of a Republican candidate getting elected and wiping out the last two generations of Civil Rights advances through Supreme Court bullshit
is petrifying enough that they are extremely risk averse, especially in a post-Obama political climate.
For which I can't blame really them; the coded language conservative media has deployed in the past eight years has only grown more alarming, more extreme. It reminds them, increasingly, of their childhoods.
Regardless of the President's own problematic elements, there's a definite consensus amongst many people of color that the President doesn't get enough credit for his very consequential accomplishments,
despite historic political intransigence, and there is a tacit agreement that that is racial in nature. So Bernie Sanders seemingly adversarial relationship with Pres. Obama really does him no favors.
But I work at an inner city college; and it's been my experience that younger people of color (at least those pursuing a college education) are vastly more attracted to Bernie & progressive
politicians like Elizabeth Warren than to the Clintons, because of the Clinton's ties to the financial institutions that are thoroughly screwing them.
My friends and colleagues echo the sentiments of the students in their own inner cities, from Newark & Atlanta to Chicago & Detroit.
The problem? Not every city has demographics like ours, and not every voter has priorities like ours. Many voters are still very dubious of Bernie, with the stakes as high as they are.
And I think worries about Sanders have some basis. Though he's been in Congress for a long time, he hasn't been in the spotlight for very long at all–
Republicans are going to wage a very dirty, very sly campaign against him, you best believe it. And imv, Hilary Clinton really is the more pragmatic politician;
Experienced, battle-tested and enduring, with a host of accomplishments to her name.
It is genuinely frustrating then, that part of that is the cosiness the Clintons have with big banks & businesses that have injured our working poor.
It is genuinely frustrating that part of that Clinton experience, is her hawkishness. Hillary's categorical inability to not be shady when things look cagey rankles as well
(& this is my personal feeling, independent of the media's massive hard-on for making her every waking moment an uphill battle).
But whatever anyone might fear (the DNC included), it seems clear that the health & future of this era's Democratic Party lies with progressivism,
The unexpected success of Bernie Sanders has demonstrated this better than anything. So whether he gets nominated or not, I really,
genuinely hope that his example is motivating more people to take an active interest in politics.
The system as it currently exists is NOT sustainable.