In Alabama, Sanders makes appeal to Deep South black voters

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has made an appeal to black voters in the Deep South, stopping at a historically African American church and calling health care a “human right” that he equated to the civil rights movement.

The Vermont senator spoke before a racially diverse crowd at Mt. Zion Church AME Church in the Alabama capital of Montgomery on Monday.

He renewed calls for extending health care coverage to all Americans and reducing student debt while adding: “Just as civil rights is a human right, health care is a human right.”

The crowd for Sanders’ midday speech was about half white despite the church’s deep ties to the civil rights movement.

Sanders finished a swing through four Southern states that also included stops in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Kim Chandler, The Associated Press