Bernie Sanders admits getting support from black voters will be an uphill battle

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It's no secret Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) isn't an obvious presidential pick for many black voters. "On the surface, he looks like a concerned 74-year-old grandfather who has spent most of his political career serving the people of a state that is 95 percent white," Ebony quipped.

When the magazine sat down with the Democratic presidential contender for an interview published Monday, Sanders vowed he'll face the odds and work on engaging the black community:

Yes, it's true, I am from a state that is overwhelmingly white. I am also aware that I am running against somebody whose husband is very popular in the African-American community. But, we plan to take our message to the community and so you will see me getting out soon around the country speaking in black communities, telling people about my life history and my message like the fact that I have one of the strongest civil rights voting records in the Congress. I believe once we explain, it will all make sense. [Ebony]

After Black Lives Matter protesters interrupted Sanders on the campaign trail, he agreed to meet with the activists to talk race. He told Ebony those meetings have gone well, highlighting the connection between activists' goals and his own platform of reforming the criminal justice system.

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"I think for most whites, their experience with the police has been good or neutral because they don't interact with the police as much as those in the black community," Sanders said. "That was made very clear to me, and so I have found those meetings to be very useful. It speaks again for the need for criminal justice reform in a very significant way."

Check out his full interview here.

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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.