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WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — The problem began as soon as Bernie Sanders walked into the dining room of the revered, and predominantly black, Brookland Baptist Church. Instead of flocking to him, as people do at his large college rallies, many of church’s 780 members looked up for a moment, then quietly went back to eating their Sunday feast — unmoved as Mr. Sanders, the Democratic senator from Vermont, tried to work the room.

He made remarks at a microphone next to a buffet table offering chicken, collard greens and dinner rolls. The line at the table kept moving as Mr. Sanders and Benjamin T. Jealous, a former N.A.A.C.P. president, spoke. The Brookland Baptist congregation proved to be a tough crowd.

“We have in America today a broken criminal justice system,” Mr. Sanders said, pausing briefly after this line from his stump speech, which is usually met with applause. Here it garnered very little.

His visit underscored Mr. Sanders’s difficulty in strengthening his support among black voters in South Carolina, who make up more than half of registered Democrats heading into the state primary this Saturday. While some applauded politely as he offered now-familiar lines about racial discrimination, the loudest claps came when he talked about President Obama.

After losing the Nevada caucuses, he must prove that he can increase his support beyond the young whites that pack his events.

“This is America,” Mr. Sanders said. “We should not be having more people in jail, largely African-American and Latino, than any other country on earth. So one of the points that I am trying to make is we are going to invest in education and jobs for our young people, not more jails, not more incarceration.”

“That’s right,” one person replied, while some politely clapped and others focused on their plates.

At larger venues packed by whiter crowds, Mr. Sanders typically hears several seconds of rousing cheers for those lines.

“Second point to be made is we have an economy today which thankfully is a lot better than it was seven years ago, thanks to President Obama,” Mr. Sanders said, the crowd finally applauding loudly.

But the moment was fleeting as the candidate then said things could be better.

“When President Obama came into office, we were losing 800,000 jobs a month and we had a deficit of $1.4 trillion,” Mr. Sanders said. “We have made good progress. But we still have too many people in America living in poverty. It is wrong that 35 percent of African-American children today are living in poverty; 51 percent of young African-Americans who graduated high school are unemployed or underemployed. Brothers and sisters, we can do a lot better than that.”

While some applauded, Mr. Sanders’s greatest support came from Karen Brooker, 56, who single-handedly gave him the shouting and applause he’s used to hearing.

“Amen,” she yelled as Mr. Sanders quietly handed the microphone back to the church’s pastor.

Moments earlier, Mr. Jealous, borrowing a line from Mr. Obama’s 2008 campaign as he introduced Mr. Sanders, also failed to get much applause.

“There are people who will say to you, there is a dreamer who is running for president,” Mr. Jealous said, “and his dreams are so big ya’ll shouldn’t dream that big. But in our community, when they tell us not to dream, we say yes we can. And so I ask you, ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to dream big?”

Ms. Brooker, who later said she was undecided and had once considered voting for Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, was again the loudest voice. “Amen,” she said.

Mr. Jealous tried again.

“No, no, no, are you ready to dream big?” Mr. Jealous said.

“Yes, fired up,” a few more in the crowd offered, but most continued to eat silently.

In a Black Church in South Carolina, Bernie Sanders Struggles to Get an ‘Amen’ Bernie Sanders’s challenge in strengthening his support beyond his largely white base was in stark relief as he campaigned before the state’s primary on Saturday.