07
After the passage of Prop 8 in california, it was fashionable to blame “blacks and hispanics” because on the whole, some of them voted for it’s passage. Long discussions were bantered back and forth about “how could ‘they’ vote to legalize discrimination.” Blogs were posting daily after the passage of Prop 8 about how to “reach out to ‘those communities.’ ” But I have yet to hear ONE WORD from ANYONE in the Lesbian or Gay communities about the “white people” who just passed Prop 1 in the state of maine!
The state of maine has over 1.3 million people in it according to the 2008 census. Of that 1.3 million people, 97% is white. So the passage of Prop 1 in maine was done by white people! Where are the Lesbian and Gay voices now? Where is the blaming, the gnashing of the teeth, and the name calling now? The silence is deafening!
As I had stated when Prop 8 passed, even if every registered black and hispanic voted for Prop 8, that was NOT the deciding factor. The vote was passed by white people! Yet the “minorities” took the brunt of the criticism for the passage. It wasn’t appreciated THEN and it still isn’t appreciated.
So hear this white Lesbians and Gays. You BETTER keep blacks and hispanics name OUT OF YOUR MOUTHS when it comes to Same Couple Marriage. Because while there is no excuse for BIGOTRY, DISCRIMINATION, and/or HATE, white people are the ones passing these propositions. So before you start looking into someone else’s backyard, CLEAN UP YOURS FIRST! Because RACISM is still the “biggest ism” there is. And your silence on this issue JUST PROVES IT!
Oh, but don’t get this SHIT twisted blacks and hispanics. That doesn’t get you off the hook ONE BIT! Because for a group of people who CONTINUE to experience discrimination, to turn around and do it to someone else is PATHETIC! You, those “minorities” who voted for Prop 8, are still BIGOTS, POOR EXCUSES FOR HUMAN BEINGS and COWARDS! And don’t YOU forget that EITHER!
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A justice of the peace in Hammond, Louisiana, has refused to sign a marriage certificate for an interracial couple. Keith Bardwell has said that he is “not a racist” because he has married Black couples “right here in my own home.” When the bride, Beth Humphrey, called to get the certificate signed, Bardwell’s wife stated that her husband “would not sign marriage licenses for interracial couples.” His concern was not about the couple themselves. The judge is concerned about the children, and how they will be treated by society. I was under the impression this issue, interracial marriage, was taken care of with the Loving vs Virginia case decided by the Supreme Court in 1967. But I guess deciding who can and can’t get married has again become a slippery slope and the slope done slipped!
Again is looks like someone is sitting in judgment of someone else, using racist stereotypes to justify bigotry. Bardwell has said that he “don’t want to put children in a situation they didn’t bring on themselves.” And since he is now the foremost scholar on interracial children, he doesn’t want them to suffer.” Damn, that’s awful nice of him isn’t it! Those are the same piss poor excuses that are used by people who oppose Same Couple Marriage. But you’re right black folks, the Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights struggle is not the same thing! Dumbasses!
Did Bardwell forget that our president is the product of an interracial marriage? Does he not realize that no one is “pure?” And that in 2009, the number of interracial children are growing and those children are no less proud of who they are and who they come from?
As a Lesbian who saw the state she lives in, california, and other states, pass propositions that bars Lesbians and Gays the right to get married, I felt this was bound to happen. Because people are failing to realize that once you start considering people to be “thems” or “others“, if shouldn’t be a surprise when someone else does that EXACT same thing to you.
This will be an interesting test to see just how trifling Black people really are. Are far to many Black folks just bigots or are they racists too? And we will also see how far we have come as a country. Because we already know that people ARE NOT FREE to marry who they want to marry. We will see if race is “no longer and issue” since Obama was elected!
This should be good!
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SCLC, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, has decided that the reason for their very existence, Tolerance and Equality for All, doesn’t extend to Same Couple Relationships. The amnesia of the leaders of that organization as to what they stand for, is being played out by their threats to fire a straight, African American Reverend, Eric Lee, who was public in his opposition to Prop 8. And his very public opposition just might cost him his job!
I find it amazing that the one group of people, African Americans, who have and continue to experience hate like no other group, thinks nothing of doing that to Lesbians and Gays. I understand your feelings that the Black Civil Rights movement is being overshadowed by the Gay Rights movement. And I understand that the comparison can be offensive. But the bottom line is this. Because our Black elders have failed to teach the younger generations our collective history, far too many youngsters don’t know anything more about the Civil Rights movement other than what we learned in school. And as we all know, that is minimal at best and a complete JOKE AT WORSE. And whether you like it or not, the comparisons are EXACTLY THE SAME! The same arguments that were used to try and justify not giving African Americans Civil Rights and stopping Interracial Marriage 50 years ago have been dusted off and are being used to discriminate against Same Couple Relationships. In a post I wrote on May 21, 2009, titled “Is Gay the New Black?” I listed eight different reasons why the struggles are the same. And these reasons include: education, religion, employment, housing, violence, health care, government, and marriage. Anyone with an open mind can’t deny the comparisons, PERIOD!
Slowly but surely, African Americans are alienated the very people who helped, fought, stood, and died for us to be in the position that we are in now. And our failure to say “thanks” and to return the failure won’t be forgotten nor should it be. So when the next atrocity occurs, like Hurricane Katrina, and we are shown and told EXACTLY where we stand in this country, and we run for help, we should be surprised when the Lesbian and Gay neighbors lock the door, close the curtains, and turn off the lights! Nor should we be surprised when African American Lesbian and Gays who have plenty of discretionary income to spend, stop spending it with you!
Time is going to show that opposing Same Couple Marriage was wrong. And when our children and grandchildren as us why we did it, what are you going to say that makes sense? That the bible, the same bible that STILL SAYS WE SHOULD BE SLAVES AND BE CONTENT WITH OUR LOTS IN LIFE, told us to do it? Or that an organization that fought for EQUALITY is now against it. The SCLC should be ashamed of themselves.