Unquestionably Bernie attracts the liberal who can't admit they have racial insecurity and fear. Bernie is the old white face that comforts these conflicted people. These are who say things like "I'm not a racist but black people shouldn't be slowing down traffic while they are protesting police violence" or even better "I'm not racist but we talk too much about racism and doing so alienates people causing them to vote for Trump"
It was Bernie who said: "People are tired of PC rhetoric". As if black people, Hispanic people and womem yearn for the good old days when it was OK for them to be insulted in public and everybody would just laugh it off.
Bernie and his rabid following who call themselves "progressives" are regressive as all hell when it comes to social equality and are racist as fuck. But if you ask them, they are not-a-racist.