Bernie Sanders criticized for saying white people don't know what it's like to be poor

(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

last updated 7 March 2016

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 has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.