From: 10514w@coos.dartmouth.edu (John Lamperti)
Subject: BERNIE SANDERS: FIRST INDEP IN CONGRESS IN 40 YEARS (INTERVIEW) (V)
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: University of Missouri
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 01:14:15 GMT

		 ************************************
	    BERNIE SANDERS INTERVIEWED BY DAVID BARSAMIAN
		   CREATING A NEW POLITICAL AGENDA
		 ************************************
		    Transcribed by Joseph Woodard
		     From Z magazine, March 1992
		 ************************************

IN 1990 Bernie Sanders became the first independent elected to
Congress in 40 years. He was a four-time Mayor of Burlington,
Vermont's largest city.

==================================================================

BARSAMIAN: 

	In terms of building that mass movement, to what extent did
	Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition do that, and what is your
	assessment of the coalition today?

SANDERS:

	I happen to have a lot of respect for Jackson. I don't agree
	with everything that he does, and I disagree with his belief
	that he's got to stay within the Democratic Party. I think
	the concept of the Rainbow Coalition is exactly the right
	concept, and that's pretty much what I'm talking about. I
	think he has been criticized, perhaps rightly so -- and I'm
	not a member of the Rainbow Coalition. We don't function
	within the Democratic Party -- he had a very difficult time
	and there were feelings that that became a top-down
	organization rather than a grass roots democratic
	organization, and people were critical of him for that. My
	response is, when you're somebody in Jesse Jackson's
	position, it is very, very easy to be critical of him. Lo
	and behold he is not perfect. Don't criticize Jesse Jackson,
	go out and organize yourself. No one should want one leader.
	Instead of standing around criticizing Jesse Jackson for his
	inadequacies, organize within your own city, within your own
	state. Develop your own grass roots movement. I think that's
	where people should be turning their attention. I believe
	that we're going to develop a national political movement
	not by doing it, by having a relatively few people coming
	together to contemplate a national effort. I think what
	you're going to see is a coming together of local grass
	roots movements, statewide grass roots movements, who are
	talking about the issues that are relevant to the people in
	those communities. That's what we've got to do. So instead
	of criticizing Jesse Jackson--and the criticism may be
	valid--forget that. Go out and organize in your own
	community. Sometimes I get very tired of people on the left
	who are very good at sitting around and criticizing the
	whole world. You want to do the job? Go out and knock on
	doors within your community. Organize around housing, around
	workers' rights, around the environment. Bring people
	together. That's what we've got to do.



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