This is starting to get ridiculous. Apparently homophobes in the African American community in this country are free to hate and discriminate against whoever they want with no fear of being held accountable.
Homophobia is a problem in the African American community, plain and simple. You can call me racist all you want, but its not going to change that fact. Neither are stories like this one by the AP, meant to give cover to homophobes:
The ban drew its strongest support from both evangelical Christians and voters who didn’t attend college, according to results released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California.
Age and race, meanwhile, were not as strong factors as assumed. According to the poll, 56 percent of voters over age 55 and 57 percent of nonwhite voters cast a yes ballot for the gay marriage ban.
One has to assume that when the author (and the pollsters) say “race” that they are implying African Americans, because up until this point, they are the ones that, according to exit polls, voted for the proposition in overwhelming numbers. But then the poll only states that 57 percent of “nonwhite” voters cast a yes ballot. That is not just black people. I would assume that would include Asians (who overwhelmingly voted against the measure), as well as Latinos, Native Americans, people who are of mixed race, and anyone else who doesn’t consider themselves “white”.
The point is that this is misleading at best and outright propaganda to downplay the African American community’s complicity in Prop 8’s passage at worst. And not only that, they seem to have a new tactic: throw another minority group under the bus…
The poll also showed that the measure got strong backing from voters who did not attend college (69 percent), voters who earned less than $40,000 a year (63 percent) and Latinos (61 percent).
Interestingly, the poll itself only mentions latinos in the summary, in the actual body of the poll there is no breakdown of nonwhites by race, so who knows where that number comes from.
I am not trying to say that African Americans are alone to blame for this travesty. Latinos, whites, and yes, christians, have large numbers of homophobes within their ranks. But no other group has been so thoroughly given cover by the press and even to a large extent, the gay community itself. I imagine this is partly to give cover to the homophobe in chief himself, Barack Obama, but also out of fear of being accused of racism otherwise. Something that Obama showed to be a remarkably effective tool in blunting criticism.
In the end, this poll is pretty insignificant in that it didn’t even reflect the actual vote. According to the poll, only 48% of Californians support Proposition 8. The actual vote was 52% in favor. The exit poll, btw, which projected AA support at near 70%, was right on the money with the results. So who am I going to believe, the AP and the Public Policy Institute of California or my own lying eyes?
Then of course we have to deal with gay African Americans who have the nerve to try to blame this fiasco on white gay people. People like Jasmine Cannick, and this self-proclaimed hip-hop poet, Tim’m West:
I am not unlike other blacks (gay and straight) who put money and resources into the fight against Prop 8, whose (black) community got scapegoated as the reason for 8 passing. We have long been trying to work alongside white allies, even when they’ve attempted to color this issue green… and I don’t mean organic. At the end of the day, white gays are still white and benefit, knowingly and not, from white privilege. Fortunately, I’m honored to know white allies who are as upset by some of the racist scapegoating as I am. The task of having anti-racist conversation among white LGBT folk has been shamefully put on the back-burner in order to make way for valiant attempts to prove to Americans that gays are just like straight people… just gay. It’s a terrifying delusion in which to invest emotional, economic, and political resources.
8 passed because proponents of No ignored calls by activists like myself to diversity their messaging to include more people of color. 8 passed because black people have an array of more urgent concerns, many of which have connectedness to marriage equality though NO on 8 failed to illuminate these connections (e.g., AIDS, immigration, adoption and parenting, economics, property rights, etc… are all connected to marriage equality). White privilege is being furious about being a step away from “full-citizenship” as an American except for the right to marry, where many or most blacks (even married heterosexuals) are regularly confronted with reminders of second-class citizenship based on the color of their skin (note: an Obama election doesn’t change this).
So even though I am legally barred and now constitutionally barred from the basic civil rights of all Americans (including black Americans), my outrage is an expression of my racism because I really am not discriminated against because of “white privilege”? And I should blame myself because I didn’t reach out enough to the black community? And black people are so concerned with other issues that they went out of their way to vote for Prop 8? Mr. West you are full of shit. Being furious about being denied “full citizenship” has nothing to do with white privilege, and everything to do with social justice. This is just another attempt by cowards like West to shield themselves from accountability under the mantle of victimization. In fact his own commentary is somewhat racist because he ignores the millions of nonwhite gays who are just as equally affected by this measure.
And to Mr. West, and Ms. Cannick, and all of you other apologists out there, you might want to go back and study what civil rights really means. There is no excusing the denial of rights to people in this country. I don’t care if they are racist, or have perceived privilege, or whatever. This is a simple case of right and wrong. Your pathetic and cowardly attempts to wipe away that sin from your community only helps to perpetuate all forms of injustice, be they racism, sexism, or any type of intolerance. You are part of the problem, not the solution.
At least some voices from the African American community are starting to question the homophobia that they see. Take for example this cartoon from artist Rajan Sedalia
The gay community has to be unified to fight the menace of homophobia and discrimination. And that means to confront homophobia wherever it exists. Nobody is suggesting that we should try to see the perspective of white homophobes, or christian homophobes, or any other group. The reaction from the black community is not one of racial indignation, but of shame. Shame that their community would be so bigoted given its history. And it is wrong to bury that shame by denying reality.
Finally, in other Prop 8 news, a quick note to celebrities: your lame attempts to “help” are not only almost a month late, they promote stereotypes and reduce our civil rights to a way to boost the economy.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/12/proposition-8-i.html
Not funny. Please stop. Thanks.
(and typical of hollywood, the video has been yanked from You Tube. I guess control of their “image” is more important then their stand for gay rights, so I’ve just linked to the LA times article where you can see the video from its original source, which wordpress doesn’t support)
Posted by garychapelhill 
