Sick of hearing that African-American and Latino voters are responsible for the passage of Prop 8

[smkyle1]

In the LA Progressive, Natalie Davis wrote, "I am getting sick of hearing that African-American and Latino voters in California are responsible for the horrid result in Californian bigots’ successful bid to take rights away from citizens. That is a slap in the faces of all those dark-skinned people who voted in favor of maintaining legal equality for all."

The piece can be read in it's entirety at the link below.



http://www.laprogressive.com/2008/11/09/prop-8-apportioning-blame-fighting-back/

[IndianaJones]

1. if most are homophobes, that of course does not mean that all are. nt.

[Ellen Forradalom]

2. There is a distinction

between blaming an entire group and calling out homophobia where one sees it.

It is a religious, conservative ideology problem, not a color problem. There are other subtler differences in world view, and different pressures on communities, that influence attitudes. There is a lot of untangling to do here.

[mitchtv]

3. I am not so sure I am interested

after having taken a punch in the face from the Hate community; I blame every single person who voted for it. including Blacks and Hispanics.

[jonnyblitz]

12. why in hell should we pick and choose which bigots to call out?

why should SOME get a pass? one person posted last night," I am only going after the white bigots".

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

4. Maybe it is the sole problem of No On 8 poor response...

.. but then again, WHEN IN AMERICAN HISTORY HAVE ANY RIGHTS & PRIVILEGES once GRANTED have been removed by POPULAR VOTE?
Maybe people were lulled into a false sense of security in that there would be no historical exception.

And were slow to react.

Fool me once..... etc etc.

[Jamastiene]

5. Well, I'm sick of hearing that we have to have segregation

in our regular lives in this day and age, but it is the way it is no matter how much some of us wish it wasn't so segregated. It seems like there is no unity that way even though there really is. It's just such a separate form of unity.

[mondo joe]

6. Neither Latinos or African Americans are responsible for Prop 8. But what is very troubling is the

disproportionate sentiment against equality for gays in the African American community/population.

And it would be disturbing even if Prop 8 had not passed.

[bluedawg12]

7. There are a couple things here to look at.

First, now that Propagate hate 8 is over, it stil leaves unresolved the question of attitudes towards gays in the AA community.

Having heard then candidate Obama address this, I thought we were all onthe same page.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/25/obama-takes-on-the-black-_n_83234.html

"If we are honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community," Obama told 2,000 worshippers Sunday at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King once preached.
"We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them."

One of the good things that have come from this whole sorry mess is that I have at least become enlightened by searching for AA pro-GLBT entities and this is great news, they are out there.

Second, the Latino vote is interesting, because I have looked at why it hasn't bothered me as much.
The answer is that I am aware that the Latino community is strongly Catholic and devout and I know that Churche's (public) position on hmosexuality and didn't ever execpt a coalition there. If I recall, during the dumbya years, that was one of the selling points to lure Latino's away from the Democratic party: the so - called cultural wars.


For selfish reasons, I would like to strengthen the progressive coalition between AA's and the GLBT community.

For non-selfish reasons, it just seems a win-win.

Finally, is not a "racial issue", it is a cultural-religious issue and the religious rw has very cleverly played the cultural wars game.

[Duncan Grant]

8. That's a distortion of the discourse; it's designed to end discussion.

Who's saying Blacks and Latinos are responsible for the passage of "Yes on 8"?

I don't understand why some people are reluctant to look at the vote. Political analysts do this level of examination all the time. What's the problem?

I'll theorize that Democrats don't like this "airing of dirty laundry" because it destroys the illusion of party unity. Democrats equivocated on this issue from the beginning and now they don't want us to talk about the results among core Democratic constituencies.

The level of gay support for the Democratic party and their candidate was enormous (4th among all constituencies?). God forbid that gays see the reality, lest the Democratic party loose $$$ and our support (and yes, there are other places to go besides the Republican party).

[LeftCoast]

9. Exactly!

I haven't seen anyone saying this and if they did they're wrong.

[jonnyblitz]

11. that's EXACTLY what's been going on and it's PISSING me off.

[yardwork]

14. I agree that the distortion is designed to end discussion.

The exit polls may not be valid, but the reality is that many minority communities have issues with homosexuality. This is well known in the health field where the tragic consequences of living on the downlow are a matter of grave concern. There are socio-economic reasons for this issue and discussing the subject is not the same as being a racist or blaming anybody.

Gay African Americans wanted to discuss this issue here at DU but a handful of self-identified straight heteros took it upon themselves to shut down the conversation. It looks like the same thing is happening in the larger world as well.

[jesus_of_suburbia]

17. Bingo. Some people would have us end discussion.

[QC]

10. I'm sick of this straw man argument being posted every five minutes. n/t

[mondo joe]

13. Agreed. I haven't seen ANYONE on DU blame any racial group for Prop 8's passage -

unless you want to consider Mormons a race, which I doubt.

I have seen a lot of people express sorrow and dismay that African Americans trend significantly higher than other ethnic groups toward opposing equal rights for gays.

[QC]

15. Well, Joe, you and I have both been here a long time, and we know

that particularly in the past year or two there has been a tendency here for the playground bullies to gather 'round and try to shout people down when they say something that departs from the conventional wisdom.

The most effective way to do that is with accusations of racism. We saw it nonstop here when immigration was the issue du jour: even the most judicious, delicately phrased attempt to discuss, say, the impact of mass immigration on wages was met with "WHY DO YOU HATE BROWN PEOPLE???" and the like. Not the way to foster a discussion--and that was, of course--the point.

We saw it again during the McClurkin fiasco, too, which was one of DU's lowest points, and now those who dare question the ugliness we saw on Tuesday are getting the same treatment again.

[xchrom]

16. gay bigotry crosses ALL racial, ethnic and political and religious lines.

8 passed by a narrow majority.

that could have been mitigated by any number of other minority votes -- didn't happen though did it?

[sui generis]

18. really? We're sick of apologists. /nt