Bernie Sanders makes play for minority vote at Apollo event

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders made a big push to win over minority voters in a panel event at the Apollo Theater in New York on Saturday.

{mosads}The event was moderated by filmmaker Spike Lee and also featured singer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte, former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner and Erica Garner, daughter of Eric Garner.

Sanders addressed incarceration rates, black unemployment, education, police brutality and infrastructure in inner cities.

Sanders, who rarely addresses his religion, referred to his Jewish heritage when talking about tackling racism. 

He said that growing up knowing many people in his father’s family were killed during the Holocaust shaped his dedication to fighting racial injustice.

“To see racism or people hating each other for the color of their skin or for the accent that they may have, the language or the country they came from is from the deepest part of me something that is so grotesque and awful that from a very early age it was clear to me that I had to spend my life helping to oppose that type of behavior,” Sanders said.

Sanders said the country needs to “change our national priorities” and provide federal investment and award federal contracts to in-need communities.

Earlier Saturday, Sanders released a new campaign ad produced by Lee featuring Garner, Belafonte and other activists.

According to an Emerson poll from this week, Sanders has gained on Clinton in New York, now trailing by 18 percentage points. The poll shows that Sanders picked up 6 points with African-Americans and 23 points with Hispanics in less than a month, but Clinton still holds a more than 2-to-1 advantage with both groups.