Another Democrat demographic Hillary is losing.
A crowd of barbers and patrons greeted philosopher and activist Dr. Cornel West with a round of applause as he stepped into Barber Tech Academy on Thursday.
As West began to greet the crowd, he referenced the event that has come to be known as the Orangeburg Massacre, which took place on Russell Street just a few feet away from the barbershop.
“When they told me that it was next to the bowling alley, I said, ‘Oh, we need a moment of silence!’ Y’all know about the three precious ones who were shot Feb. 8, 1968, right?’” West asked. Three students died and 27 people were injured when highway patrolmen opened fire on a protest over a segregated bowling alley.
That had to do with folks straightening their backs up, trying to tell the truth and bear witness, but it was out of a deep love, West said.
The 62-year-old said justice is what love looks like in public.
“When you’re on the love train, you’re concerned about everyday people and everyday people are catching hell,” he said.
West came to Orangeburg on Thursday in support of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders. West also spoke at South Carolina State University.
He said he supports the Vermont senator because Sanders is concerned about alleviating poverty.
“That’s my major issue,” West said. “Alongside that is putting a stop to police murder, police terror and police abuse. The third one is dealing with Wall Street.”
West says when he was 21 years old, the top 1 percent of people in America owned 19 percent of the wealth.
“Now, that 1 percent owns 42 percent of the wealth. That’s greed. That’s the reason why we’ve got social neglect and economic abandonment, and the wealth has gone to the top,” he said.
The activist says the government neglects funding for education and jobs, but supplies money for wars and prisons.
“The question is how do we keep pressure on politicians because most of these politicians, I don’t have nothing to do with, because they’ve sold out,” West said.