(CNN) — Bernie Sanders will use the first Democratic Debate to re-introduce himself to black voters — a group he’s increasingly worked to reach, his campaign manager said Tuesday.
“I think we’re going to talk about issues of importance to the black community,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager, Tuesday on CNN’s New Day.
“I think we’re going to talk about criminal justice reform. I think we’re going to talk about dealing with systemic racism. I think we’re going to talk about many of the economic issues that are important to African-American voters.”
Sanders, a democratic socialist, speaks often about the need to improve the economy for working class Americans.
“We’re raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour that will give 50% of African-American workers a raise,” Weaver said. “These are issues that are obviously important to all of America, but in many cases because of the disproportionate amount of poverty in the African-American community, many of these issues will affect this community even more strongly.”
Black Lives Matter activists interrupted Sanders’ speeches on multiple occasions this summer claiming that he was not giving enough attention to issues impacting black communities. The Sanders campaign has since attempted to convince black voters that addressing the community’s issues is a high priority for the Senator.
Sanders met with Black Lives Matter activists last month to discuss police brutality in minority communities. And he marched with NAACP leaders in support of restoring the Voting Rights Act originally passed to eliminate obstacles minorities faced in voting. Sanders also picked up this summer a high-profile endorsement from prominent activist Cornel West.
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