Sen. Bernie Sanders delivered the commencement address at Brooklyn College on Tuesday and told graduating students that entering an “oligarchic” society, like one the United States is fast becoming, will demand vigilance and perseverance on their parts but that it was because of determined young people that he has “enormous confidence” in the country’s ultimate future.
Sanders recounted learning about “oligarchic societies” when he was a high school student in Brooklyn. Described to him as “small developing countries” in which the “economic and political life of the nation were controlled by a handful of very wealthy people,” Sanders admitted it “never occurred to me as a kid in Brooklyn that the United States of America, our great nation, could move in that direction.” But, he added, “that is precisely… what is happening today.”
“The truth is that the only rational choice we have, the only real response we can make is to stand up and fight back.”
—Sen. Bernie SandersWhile commending graduating students and their parents for often working multiple jobs in order to make ends meet, Sanders lamented that more than fifty percent of all new income now “goes to the top 1 percent” of earners.
And in order to disrupt and combat such a system, Sanders said that throwing up your hands and giving up was simply not a viable option.
“The truth is that the only rational choice we have, the only real response we can make is to stand up and fight back — reclaim American democracy and create a government that works for all of us, not just the 1%,” he said. “And for us to do that it is necessary that we fight for a vision of a new America. An America based on progressive, humane values, not the values of the oligarchy.”
As he railed against economic inequality and a system rigged in favor of the wealthy and powerful, Sanders told students that unity would be key in order to defeat the destructive forces represented by President Donald Trump.
Sanders referenced his Jewish heritage and his family’s experience with the Holocaust in Europe, which he said offered important lessons for “tough times” like these.
“From that experience, what was indelibly stamped on my mind was the understanding that we must never allow demagogues to divide us up by race, by religion, by national origin, by gender or sexual orientation,” Sanders said to wide applause. “Black, white, Latino, Asian American, Native American, Christian, Jew, Muslim and every religion, straight or gay, male or female—we must stand together. This country belongs to all of us.”
Sanders concluded on a message of hope, telling the graduates that Americans are “prepared to stand together; if we take on greed and selfishness; if we refuse to allow demagogues to divide us up there is no end to what the great people of our nation can accomplish.”
Watch the full commencement address:
The full transcript of Sanders remarks follow:
You know and I know that these are tough times for our country. But I do want to say that standing up here and looking out at the beautiful people in front of me, I have enormous confidence in the future of our country.
Let me begin by congratulating the graduating class of 2017. Today is an important day in your lives, something that I know you have worked very hard to achieve, and I want to wish all of you the very best of luck in your future endeavors.
I do want, on behalf of my wife, Jane, and myself, to pray that you all live healthy and happy lives, doing the work you enjoy surrounded in love by family and friends.
Let me thank President Michelle Anderson, Nicole Haas, the Brooklyn College Administration, faculty and staff and all of you for inviting Jane and me back to Brooklyn where we were both born and raised. I am greatly honored of the honorary degree you have given me.
I grew up in Flatbush and, like Senator Schumer, graduated from James Madison High School. My wife, Jane, was also raised Flatbush and Bedford-Stuyvesant, and graduated from St. Savior’s High School a few miles away from here.
In 1959, as a first-generation college student I attended Brooklyn College for a year — a year which had a major impact in my life. After that year I left for the University of Chicago, where I eventually graduated. My mom had died the previous year and I felt it was time to leave the neighborhood and see what the rest of the world looked like.
My childhood in Brooklyn was shaped by two profound realities. First, my mom, dad and older brother, who graduated from Brooklyn College, lived in a 3 1/2 room rent-controlled apartment. As with many of your families who don’t have a lot of money, financial pressures caused friction and tension within our household. From those experiences of growing up without a lot of money, I have never forgotten that there are millions of people throughout this country who struggle to put food on the table, pay the electric bill, try to save for their kids’ education or for retirement — people who against great odds are fighting today to live in dignity.
The second reality that impacted my life was that my father left Poland at the age of 17 from a community which was not only very poor, but from a country where anti-Semitism, pogroms and attacks on Jews were not uncommon. While my father emigrated to the United States, and escaped Hitler and the Holocaust, many in his family did not. For them, racism, right-wing extremism and ultra-nationalism were not “political issues.” They were issues of life and death — and some of them died horrific deaths
From that experience, what was indelibly stamped on my mind was the understanding that we must never allow demagogues to divide us up by race, by religion, by national origin, by gender or sexual orientation. Black, white, Latino, Asian American, Native American, Christian, Jew, Muslim and every religion, straight or gay, male or female, we must stand together. This country belongs to all of us.
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