John Lewis ‘Didn’t Mean to Disparage’ Bernie Sanders’ Activism

Mar 1, 16 by Ny MaGee

*Civil rights leader John Lewis, the progressive activist who led the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during the civil rights movement, previously dismissed Sen. Bernie Sanders‘ participation in that movement.

You may recall that when a reporter asked Lewis to comment on Bernice’s work in the 1960s on behalf of racial equality, Lewis snapped back, “I never saw him, I never met him.”

Well, what a difference a bit of time can make because now the congressman is softening his dismissal of the Democratic presidential candidate and his contributions to race relations.  Lewis was compelled to clarify his remarks “in the interest of unity.”

“The fact that I did not meet him in the movement does not mean I doubted that Sen. Sanders participated,”Lewis said, and “neither was I attempting to disparage his activism.”

READ RELATED STORY: Cornel West lashes out at civil rights icons after Bernie Sanders suffers resounding South Carolina defeat

The Georgia congressman dropped by the state Capitol where reporters asked him about Bernie’s promise of free college tuition to young voters who are drowning in student loan debt.

“I think it’s the wrong message to send to any group. There’s not anything free in America,”Lewis told reporters. “We all have to pay for something. Education is not free. Health care is not free. Food is not free. Water is not free. I think it’s very misleading to say to the American people, we’re going to give you something free.”

Lewis, who has been quite vocal in his support for his preferred candidate, Hillary Clinton, said young American need an economic reality check. “Hard work never killed anybody, child,” the congressman said, quoting his own Alabama mother.

It should be noted that John Lewis is the only member of Congress with his own graphic novel, titled “March,” which documents his experience as a young student activist. It is required reading on many campuses.