Black Lives Matter activists disappointed by Hillary Clinton's understanding of police violence

Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Walter Scott -- and many, many others -- we know their names, and, if we weren't aware before, we now know that America's problem with police brutality and violence against people of color is truly a national crisis.

Black Lives Matter activists have held meetings with both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, but some activists were disappointed by Hillary's understanding of the incredibly problematic manner in which American police interact with people of color and the poor.

The Huffington Post offers a revealing quote from one activist.

“You saying that you know that you’re white, you know that you have power, and you know that you are wealthy is not the same as seeing it and knowing that the way that police interact with you is completely different than how they will ever interact with us,” Elzie said. “I felt like Bernie understood that.”

In short, activist Johnetta Elzie felt that Hillary was unable to acknowledge that police -- systematically -- interact with the poor and people of color in a very different way than they do privileged whites.

Deray McKesson echoed Elzie's concerns, noting that Hillary didn't seem to understand that all Americans, particularly people of color, do not necessarily feel "safe" in the presence of police.

Mckesson said Clinton, like many Americans, also seemed to struggle with the notion that “police don’t actually always make people feel safe” and that Americans don’t all share the same conception of the police.

Both activists said they were disappointed that Hillary did not seem to understand that fixing police violence will require robust federal action.

Both Elzie and Mckesson said they were disappointed that Clinton seemed resigned to the fact that the federal government doesn’t play a major role in local policing.

“She kind of downplayed the role of the federal government and placed it all on state and local government,” Elzie said.

“I think she can take a harder stance on how she understands the role of the federal government in protecting the rights of people of color and pushing and modeling for local and state governments,” Mckesson said.

To put Elzie's and Mckesson's concerns in historical context, one might recall that during the civil rights movement Lyndon Johnson and other white politicians had to be pushed extremely hard by black civil rights organizations to use the power of the federal government -- including the National Guard -- to protect the right to vote, as well as to ensure the physical safety of civil rights activists in the American South where they frequently faced horrific police brutality and violence. Think of Selma. Tragically, American history shows that we can't always trust states such as Georgia and Mississippi -- both of which still feature Confederate symbols in their state flags -- to protect black bodies.

Am I comparing Hillary to a reluctant Lyndon Johnson? No, I'm not.

I do, however, join Elzie and Mckesson in being deeply concerned about her mindset.

Because Bernie has spent his entire life as an activist for civil rights, having even been arrested once while engaging in protest, I think he has a fundamentally different understanding of the nature of the relationship between oppressed minorities and state violence (i.e. the police). His thoughtful racial justice platform -- explicitly condemning state violence -- is a reflection of his thinking.

Sadly, Hillary has yet to release her own racial justice platform, a fact that Shaun King and I both find extremely disappointing -- and problematic.

For me, the peculiar reluctance of @HillaryClinton to release or even enunciate a racial justice platform, for months on end, is unnerving.

— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) October 9, 2015

One wonders if, perhaps, the reason Hillary has taken so long to release a platform on a matter of extreme urgency -- execution-style killings of innocent American citizens in the homeland -- stems from her inability, as articulated by the Black Lives Matter activists, to fully grasp the rot and structural racism at the core of American policing. (Perhaps this is also why she did not consider it wrong to align her campaign with wealthy private prison lobbyists?)

I am optimistic that Hillary will release a strong plan to combat police violence against minorities.

But, given the horrific nature of the abuse and violence perpetuated by police against my black brothers and sisters, I am anxious that, if Hillary were elected, she may not treat the matter with the same kind of seriousness as Bernie, someone who has proven to activists that he understands the sociological issues at the core of the problem.

At the moment, I trust Bernie to do a better job of leading this nation in the challenging task of reforming our police. Perhaps, though, Hillary will prove me wrong.

She should be aware, however, that time is running out -- if she doesn't feel the appropriate sense of urgency about this crisis, she does not deserve to win the Democratic Primary.