OAKLAND — Civil rights and social activist Viveca Bradley told Breitbart News on Monday that former President Bill Clinton had singlehandedly “made black lives worth less.”
Bradley was speaking at the predominantly African-American Allen Temple Baptist Church in East Oakland, where Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) campaigned on Memorial Day, reaching out to black voters.
“I think that that the more that black people are informed of what the Clinton policies did to this country, [they will see that] the reason there are young people are out on the street talking about Black Lives Matter is because Bill Clinton made black lives worth less than they ever were when he decided to criminalize people for what he blamed were the black people with the crack cocaine problem, he opened up the prisons, did the three strikes your out, [and] he privatized the prisons,” Bradley told Breitbart News.
“These people who are incarcerated are now slaves. All those roads lead to Bill. [The] Glass-Steagall [Act] that he nullified, that allowed Wall Street to decimate this country. And who’s the first to suffer in this country when things go wrong? Black people,” she said. “Those of us whose ancestors built this country with their free labor. We are always the first to suffer and we are suffering very badly now.”
Ironically, Hillary Clinton has also disowned her husband’s anti-crime legacy on the campaign trail and said that she is committed to “ending private prisons,” which flourished in the wake of Clinton’s policies. However, many view her candidacy as a “two-for-one” deal, and believe they will be receiving another four years of Bill in the White House along with her.
“Seriously, this country is so broken,” Bradley said. “Why are we going to continue doing what we were doing when it wasn’t working? Logically, what mathematician would tell you to continue using the same equation when it has not been working?”
She said Sanders is her preferred candidate because despite his dealings with “those rascals on Capitol Hill,” he has remained “very decent [and] honest.”
“We are indicted. The jury is in. It’s true. We need to change and go into another direction,” she said. She added that this election presents opportunity she may never see again in her lifetime to implement change.”
“What I’m trying to do is bring the truth out, because I think that the truth will heal and the truth will lead us where we need to go. And we’re going there. Get excited about it. It’s going to be wonderful. This is going to be a better place for all of us and for those babies that are coming behind us that we have a responsibility to. And I believe that Bernie feels that way. I know he does! And that is why I’m here, that is why I am excited and he’s gotta go because there are too many of us that will not vote. I cannot in good conscience cast a vote for someone that I do not believe in … We will just continue doing what we’re doing and it will get worse.”
She said she was a hippie in the 1960s and thought her activist work was complete. “We all thought our work was done, that we could just kick back and relax and things would be okay. And then I realized, uh-oh, uh-oh. We didn’t finish the job. But the millennials are willing to help us finish it. And we are. This can be a country to be proud of again,” Bradley said.
Bradley said her frustrations with the political system have led her to consider leaving the Democratic Party. “In my opinion, there is no difference between the Republican and Democratic Party today. On this date, there is no difference. They are motivated by the same money, interests.”
As for whether she would vote for Clinton or Trump if Sanders does not win the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, Bradley said: “I will not vote. Period.”
Photo: File
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