Most discussion of the Black Lives Matter intervention at Netroots Nation among Bernie Sanders’s supporters has focused on whether it was justified or not, or on the disingenuous posturing of the Clinton campaign. But that avoids the major challenge facing the Sanders campaign: how to broaden its appeal beyond an existing base, disproportionately located among white progressives.

Sanders has rightfully framed his presidential campaign as a crusade of the 99 percent against the 1 percent; but to expand his coalition, and build a real movement for change, he and his campaign staff must gain the trust of progressive activists of color by bringing them into the heart of the campaign. Bernie will not get a hearing in communities of color based on issues alone; he must develop partnerships with black and Latino activists in communities to which the longtime resident of Vermont (a state where 95 percent of the population is white) has few organic ties.

Bernie’s July 25 speech to the Southern Christian Leadership Council demonstrates that he is more than capable of making an informed, passionate analysis of how institutional racism creates mass incarceration, police brutality, and voter suppression. He also just added much-needed statements on structural racism and immigration reform to the invitations for his July 29 fundraising house parties.