Monday at at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said America was founded on “racist principles,” but as the election of the first African-American President Barack Obama shows we have come a long way.

Sanders was asked, “If you sir, were elected president, what would you do to bring healing and resolution to the issue of racism in our country. We both want to see that go away. What steps would you begin to take if you were our leader to begin to see that result.?”

Sanders said, “That is an excellent question. I thank you fort it. I would hope and I believe that every person in this room today understands that it is unacceptable to judge people, to discriminate against people based on the color of their skin. And I would also say that as a nation– the truth is, that a nation which in many ways was created, and I’m sorry to have to say this, from way back on racist principles, that’s a fact– we have come a long way as a nation.”

He added, “Now I know, my guess is that probably not everybody here is an admirer or voted for Barack Obama. But the point is, in 2008 this country took a huge step forward in voting for a candidate based on his ideas and not the color of his skin.”

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