Bernie Sanders criticized for saying white people don't know what it's like to be poor
Bernie Sanders took some heat online for a response he gave during the CNN Democratic debate in Flint, Michigan, on Sunday.
Sanders said he was told by a woman active in the Black Lives Matter movement that he didn't understand "what police do in certain black communities" and "the degree to which we are terrorized" during everyday activities. "When you're white, you don't know what it's like to be living in a ghetto," Sanders said. "You don't know what it's like to be poor, you don't know what it's like to be hassled when you walk down the street or you get dragged out of a car. I believe as a nation in the year 2016 we must be firm in making it clear we will end institutionalized racism and reform a broken criminal justice system."
On Twitter, several people pounced on Sanders' statement, saying it was totally off the mark.
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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