Subscribe to Breaking NewsWithers: Will Obama lose black support if he takes on DOMA?
Some organization called the Black Coalition Against Gay Marriage (anyone heard of these clowns?) sent a letter to the White House, stating that any support from President Barack Obama for same sex marriage would negatively impact his black backers.
“Changing the definition of marriage will have many unintended consequences which will hurt generations to come,” the coalition noted in its missive.
Maybe I would take the BCAGM seriously if it was filled with mainstream organizations. Outside of a few religious group’s (no one should be surprised by that), the only big name in the coalition is CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality. However, CORE is a shell of its former self and its credibility was shot when Roy Innis picked brawling as a political tactic.
BCAGM needs to get its news from an other source. Obama taking on DOMA? Really? The members of the coalition need to spend more time reading gay news site (instead of trolling the net looking for gay porn) because they might learn a thing or two. By the way: nothing wrong with using the net for porn viewing.
We’ve talked about the combination of race, sexuality, and marriage ever since the Proposition 8 vote in November so there is not anything new to add. The coalition has a point. If Obama pushes for the dismantling of DOMA, he will lose a few religious black votes; however, those votes will be quickly replaced. Subtraction by addition.
If we want to learn how to navigate the race, sexuality, and marriage waters we should study what happened in Washington, DC. A predominantly black city that came out for marriage rights despite the yammering of a few.
I think losing the public option in health care is going to do him a lot more damage with the voters than repealing DOMA ever will.
I think even if he does take on DOMA I would never vote for this guy…
So when are we going to speak the truth on this issue? Sorry to generalize, but black people as a community are more homophobic then most.
Disagree with me if you’d like but thats been my expreience as a black gay man. It’s probably a lil tacky to site a movie as an example, but my favorite scene from Sacha Baron Cohen’s BRUNO was the talk show scene with the crowd of homophobic black people who were not okay with him finding “mister right” or adopting a black son.
It only makes sense that the minority doing the worst in America (demographically speaking) Have time to hate on gays. Lots of African countries aren’t doing to shabby either, and they still have plenty of time to protest gay rights and create new sodomy laws for themselves. Meanwhile there cultural ignorance insures there ever skyrocketing HIV infection rates, just like the black people here in the good ol US of A.
Lots of African descendents in general need some help on this issue. No, Seriously. Its killing us.
I have not been impressed by the president or his administration’s [non]actions concerning DOMA or DADT. If because of fear of losing support from a particular group, Obama & Co. are unwilling to do what is right and just, then what is there left to say on his behalf?
Fortunately, we have one black person on our side that nobody messes with: Oprah! She, arguably, got Obama elected and she could eat BCAGM for breakfast if she wanted to. Many of her shows have featured our community and have helped raise the public awareness about our issues. Now if she could only get our “fiercest advocate” to grow some balls!
I don’t believe he’d lose ANY black votes – in significant numbers to worry. I mean, who are they going to vote for? Sarah Palin? Mitt Romney?
Nah…
I’m not about to concur that blacks are more predisposed to homophobia than whites. It’s a lot more complicated than a simple question. Yes, many black institutions (especially churches) are overtly antigay. BUT I’d say many blacks are more likely than whites to put personal loyalty over an institutional stance. When you value friends and family more than worrying about their gayness, then how is that homophobic? And who the hell are these people who want to keep stirring the pot on a black/gay conflict? We’re all in the same culture, and our identies have many aspects. Whenever somebody tries to pit one group against another, be VERY suspicious of their motives. No, DOMA repeal won’t have a significant adverse impact among black voters.
For me, it is REAL simple: If DADT and DOMA are totally overturned (and not replaced with more shit) by 2012, I will be giving Obama money and voting for him; if not, I will be voting for the Green party or some random 4th party.
No, he will NOT!
Even though the black community at large, tends to be homophobic, I think it would take MUCH more than repealing DOMA to cause him to lose black support.
For one thing, he’s black and he’s risen to the most powerful position in the world.
Secondly, I don’t think most straights are even aware that there is currently a FEDERAL statute concerning gay marriage. I’ve talked to countless, well educated, straight white people who are unaware of DOMA. One has to remember that DOMA was passed lo…ng BEFORE there was even ONE state allowing gay marriage or even Civil Unions. At the time of its passage it was a HUGE issue ONLY to the evangelical crowd.
Lastly, I think the black community is politically savy enough to know that Obama MUST do things for other constituent groups if he wants to see a second term.
Totally evangelical blacks who vote in a political/religious way are really the only ones who woud consider this a deal breaker, but these blacks are already NOT voting Democrat in most instances anyway.
People may not be aware of this, but the black community is extremely anti-abortion, yet they don’t say much and certainly haven’t decided not to vote Democrat, even when the Democratic party has long…publicly and loudly towed the ultra feminist line on the issue.
Blacks, like any other demographic groups are fully capable of compartmentalizing on various issues and seeing which ones ultimately don’t affect them, regardless of how they feel about those issues in general.
If Obama frames the destruction of DOMA in constitutional and liberty speak, he can certainly give himself cover from your garden variety homophobe. The extreme homophobes won’t buy it, but like I said, most of them aren’t voting Democratic anyway.
I’d like to bring up the term intersectionality, since this is CLEARLY a case when race and sexual orientation. People seem to rush into comparing and contrasting the black community and the LGBTQ community as if they were somehow mutually exclusive. And who gets pushed even further towards the margins? People like me who belong FULLY to both communities, yet face racial discrimination from the white/male dominated “gay community” and heterosexism and homophobia from the straight/male dominated “black community”. So, since I’m forced to fragment myself (what a surprise), I’ll speak from the perspective of a black male. In my own personal experience, here in the South, I know FAR more white opposers of gay marriage than black, and I know more black people! Yes the black community struggles with opening up and correcting its views of sexuality and sexual morality, but give us more credit than to think that the community is dumb enough to let this one issue make or break its support for President Obama. There are actually many intelligent black people in our nation. As a matter of fact, one of them is President right now.
Candidate Obama promised preachers he would make sure they wouldn’t be jailed if they refused to perform wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples. See the LOGO TV debate.
Obama promised his supporters that he was totally and forever against marriage equality for gay and lesbian Americans.
His administration already filed two briefs to stop SCOTUS from hearing cases challenging The Discriminatory Offensive Marriage Attack.
So why is anyone surprised to hear the theocRATS calling themselves Black Coalition Against Gay Marriage are telling Heterosupremacist in Chief to keep his promises to them.
They are part of the tyrannical mob that voted for Obama and against equality for LGBT Americans in California, Arizona, Florida and Arkansas.
I realize we hoped that when Obama spoke about hope he was including LGBT Americans, but just like the rest of heterosupremacist America he was only including the people he approved of, accepted or tolerated.
Lordy, lordy, lordy . . . and of ALL the people who should stand in the way of equality . . . the blacks. What in the world are they thinking when it comes to the word “prejudice.” Checking the facts regarding Proposition 8, in 2008, the blacks stood against gays marrying way more than any other group. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black . . .
I’m shocked! Blacks don’t like the gay? Where would they throw their support? I don’t see them being too welcome in the Republican Party right now. Maybe they could throw their support behind Ron Paul and Libertarians. But that might not be a good idea, since they have been invaded by the birthers. Maybe they could join the Constitution Party. But since they believe in a strict interpretation of the Founding Fathers’ vision of the Constitution, I think they might not like their ideas of repealing the 13th Amendment.
Maybe they can just get over it, stick with Obama, and stop being so afraid of the gay.