All of Vermont is 95% white. If you want to be the senator from Vermont, there really isn’t much choice. Black guys are too smart to live in a freezing state where there are no jobs.
Vermont used to be conservative politically. The stereotype, is that so many New York liberal types such as Bernie, moved to Vermont, that they tipped the balance in a largely rural state, and overwhelmed the native population.
The percentage of Vermont blacks in prison is much higher than their percentage of the general population.