Sunday, November 09, 2008

Constant Craving

Brotha Old School and I continued our back and forth yesterday off the pages of Anonymous Sec's.  It got pretty heated, at least from my end.  He was pulling my chain because he likes to.  I continued debating the issue as same sex marriage is a constitutional issue and he, well, as Spencer pointed out, BOS' position wasn't quite clear.  He seemed to somewhat acknowledge the constitutional justness of my position, but not much substance past "I don't care what you say.  God.  Says.  So."  He is fine with that.  I am not.

Now, to be fair, I'm a blog computer nerd geek who has witnessed the blogosphere back and forth of point/counterpoint for years now.  BOS clearly has a life, is new to the computer as well as blogosphere and is not so sophisticated in the rules of engagement.  So other than being just really really really really mad at what I consider to be his hard-headed stance, I cannot fault him for engaging as he saw fit, at my invitation.  (Also, it should be noted that getting mad isn't really the productive interwebs way and I am at fault for that.  Mea culpa...but I'm still mad.)

The engagement, though, was thrilling if only for giving me the opportunity to clarify my position in my head.  I do see it as a constitutional issue, albeit a state one.  After the drubbing the US Constitution has gotten during the past 8 years, and frankly, my not really doing or saying anything about it (not that I had the power but it only takes one voice, y'know), I'm personally touchy about the promise of the Constitution being realized in daily life.

That said, there has been some rather harsh talk from the LGBT community about the effect of black voter turnout vis-a-vis passage of Prop 8, some from my beloved Andrew Sullivan.  African Americans are 6.2% of the California electorate.  Of that 6.2%, 70% voted yes on Prop 8.  Those numbers are not enough to assign blame to a whole community.

I admit that, from a civil and legal standpoint, I have a hard time understanding how black folks can actively participate in what I consider to be discrimination.   As evidenced by the back and forth yesterday between me and BOS, there are parts to this issue that I just don't get.

I believe in God.  I believe that there is honesty and guidance in the Bible.  For example, my sister who is more intimately acquainted with the Bible than I, pointed me toward The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians 6:10-20 when I was at a particularly challenging point of my life.  I type it in its entirety here just because it just rocks and I want to:
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may stand against the devil.  For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.  To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that utterance may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak."
I read that and I feel like freaking Xena.  So some of the traditionalism of religion touches me.  Where I diverge, I think, is when the idea is put forth that the honesty and guidance that I find in the Bible compels me to be unfair to my fellow man.  Some people, I guess, do.  Since the church is a big part of African American cultural life, and religion is for the most part against homosexuality as a "practice," a good many African Americans are as well.  This has given rise to this harsh and unfair backlash against blacks in relationship to Prop 8.

The election of Barack Obama has made me all bold in what I believe is possible, so let me say this.  I fully believe that legal same sex marriage will be de rigueur in the U.S. in my lifetime.  As I've said before, a good part of the electorate cannot be discriminated against indefinitely because the human spirit will not stand for it.

That said, considering the mind space of the electorate, it won't be achieved simply because it is the right thing to do.  It will take work.  Hard work.  (I note my debate with BOS as Exhibit A.)  If the Obama campaign taught nothing else, it teaches that it takes focus and dedication of monumental proportions to fight an uphill battle.  It takes changing ways of thinking and doing and being.  It takes reaching out to people who would never consider your stance in a million years and convincing them that your position is the right place to be.

The LGBT community, if it believes that blacks were the lynchpin of the passing of Prop 8, need to change their way of thinking and doing and being with the community to get it done, instead of blaming people for being who they are, which is really not a whole lot different from what they are asking for themselves.

I found this essay by Jasmyne Cannick via Jack & Jill Politics (note that you open her site and music starts playing which bugs the crap out of me):
Case in point the Jordan Rustin Coalition that was started by the gays out of West Hollywood because they felt that Black gays weren’t doing enough to fight for gay marriage. Hmmm–maybe we were doing other things that we just as important. Just a thought.

The group bills itself has a Black civil rights group for lesbians and gays but does nothing more than push the gay agenda for marriage onto the Black community by holding the occasional town hall meeting in Leimert Park. The one part of the Black community they know and feel safe in thanks to gentrification. At these meetings, they use their surrogates to tell Black people why gay marriage is a priority.

This group doesn’t do anything non-gay marriage related in the Black community—and what I mean by that is that you won’t catch the Jordan Rustin Coalition at the community meetings dealing with Black issues or out on the streets in the hood registering Black people to vote. In fact, GOTV (get out the vote) weekend, instead of helping to register Black voters, they wanted Black gays to go to Pasadena for a Sing Out for Coming Out Day. While I agree that encouraging Black gays to “come out” is generally a good thing—if and when we decide to hold a coming out event, why the hell would we do it in Pasadena?
I use this example to prove to you the continued misunderstanding of priorities of Blacks by gays and the ego and superiority complex that dictates the lengths to which gays will go to micromanage and push their agenda on Blacks.
It takes involvement and care to convince.  Honest care, not agenda-based care.  The right thing to do will not just win.  If the example of 400 years of disenfranchisement of the black community teaches nothing else, it teaches that.  Me trying to out-logic fundamentalists clearly won't do the trick.  Lord, I keep coming back to the Obama campaign because it just is such an amazing example of how to get it done.  I think the LGBT community needs to think about that to achieve their goal.

I'm here to help.

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