#BernieMadeMeWhite Takes Down Mainstream Media’s Narrative About Bernie Sanders

Mar 28, 2016
9:56 AM

In case you missed it over the weekend, the hashtag #BernieMadeMeWhite trended on Twitter after the mainstream political media kept reporting that Bernie Sanders’ victories in Hawaii, Washington and Alaska were propelled by these three states’ white voters, even though these three states are actually much more diverse than you think. As you might imagine, Twitter went all in the past few days. Here are just some examples:

Raw Story reported that Leslie Lee III @tokyovampires came up with the #BernieMadeMeWhite hashtag on March 27. This is what Lee told Raw Story’s Katie Halper:

“The common narrative in this election that Bernie has a ‘minority problem’ or that all his supporters are ‘bros’ is pervasive, and insulting to the POCs [People of Color] and women who support [him].” But, “it hit a peak… when Hawaii, the least white state in the nation, retroactively became white or ‘not diverse’ due to the fact that Bernie won it. So, I started #BernieMadeMeWhite.” And, Lee tweeted to me, “since my real existence as a black person who supports Bernie is ignored… might as well embrace my new whiteness.”