Thanks for the kind words, but the only people for whom race and gender can even remotely be conceived of as “side issues” are white men. Furthermore, those white men are wrong. Here’s why:

Capitalism as we know it is completely predicated on the subjugation of women (see Silvia Federici) and unfree laborers (slaves, a debtor class). This subjugation, in turn, depends upon the hierarchical structures of white supremacy, which perpetuate themselves by framing the concerns of the oppressed as frivolous chatter.

Ultimately you can’t minimize these concerns without being a useful idiot for the ruling class. I really do like Bernie, but when he minimizes the central role of white supremacy at the heart of capitalism, he’s inadvertently being a capitalist tool.