Like most of the world, I was overwhelmed with emotion last Tuesday night when the people of the United States elected Barack Obama for president.
Wow! How’s that for poetic irony. Just when we thought we were helplessly enslaved by an administration of nearly insane, power-starved, mostly-white, science-rejecting megalomaniacs, in walks a smart-talking, free-thinking black man to emancipate us.
Also, I have been taking extra pleasure in pondering all those hardcore racists out there who must be quite aghast as they watch black people on TV dancing in the streets and sobbing tears of joy. In my fantasy, I imagine some skinhead knucklehead pacing in his living room muttering racial epithets to himself. Perhaps there is a shotgun in his closet, perhaps he will put the shotgun in his mouth. This is my fantasy, so it ends my way.
Yes, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008, was a day when you truly felt proud to be an American. But then, on Nov. 5, I read something that changed all that.
I read that California’s black voters favored Proposition 8 by a margin of 70 percent to 30 percent, which means seven out of 10 black voters voted against gay marriage, which means 7 out of 10 black voters suck major ass.
And yes, I’m quite certain some of you are going to call me a bigot for saying so, but I don’t care because that would just be the black calling the kettle black. I mean, I knew African-Americans leaned toward a homophobic mindset, what with all the bible thumping and gospel singing, but 70-30? In California!? I had no idea it would be so lopsided. And because Prop. 8 passed by only a 5-percent margin, and given that black voters came out in droves for this historic election, it probably means those 70-percenters were the determining factor in 8′s passage.
That is disappointing on so many levels.
Because, now, when I watch the news and see a black commentator on some talk show holding back the tears and talking ’bout, “We’ve come a long way, baby,” I can’t help but wonder if that person is one of the 70-percenters. I can’t help but think, Hey, man, was it you who had the audacity to vote yes on Proposition Hate? How could you!? How, after all these decades of demanding equality, can you then turn around and deny it to those who are next in line?
Even President-elect Obama is against gay marriage, which breaks my heart. In his defense, though, he did say he was pro-civil unions (that grant equal protections), which is cool, I guess, but not the reality. Domestic partnerships are not the same as marriage. Not in California, anyway. They are sorely lacking certain important provisions such as inheritance, adoptive and visitation rights. But, even if domestic partnerships were to become legally identical to marriage, well, it still isn’t right. That’d be like saying, “OK, look, you are not permitted to drink from the white water fountain, but don’t worry because we believe in equality, too, so we made the black water fountain exactly the same as the white one. Is that cool? Cool.”
In other words, Separate but Equal: The Sequel.
So, sorry–no, not cool. Everyone drinks from the same goddamn fountain. That’s the rule. That’s what the Constitution says. That’s the $64,000 answer to a motherfucking 10-cent question. Or did I read the Declaration of Independence wrong? Let me check. Oh look, see, turns out I did read it wrong. I missed the parenthetical remarks:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (who are not queer) are created equal, and endowed with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happiness (except queers, silly, what were you thinking?).”
Yeah, right, silly me.
Anyway, I’d like to finish the column the same way it began, with a bit of irony, though this time considerably less poetic.
The constitutional principles that should have rejected a ban on gay marriage in 2008 are the same principles that rejected bans on interracial marriage in 1967. Before then, anti-miscegenation (also called “racial integrity”) laws were still on the books in many states. Thankfully, Hawaii was not one of them. But if it were, if the Hawaii courts and the Hawaii populace had not rejected these medieval bans on interracial sexual contact, well, there would probably be no such thing as a Barack Obama, himself the son of a black man and a white woman. Or, if his parents lived in Alabama, Mississippi or any of the other 16 states that deplorably held on to their racial-integrity laws till the bitter end, well, he probably wouldn’t be alive because it would’ve been illegal for his parents to marry and make babies.
And all those homosexuals who have been supporting the black civil-rights movement since the ’60s (and support they most certainly did!) unknowingly shot themselves in the foot by helping clear a path for a black presidential candidate in 2008, which attracted more African-Americans to the polls than ever, who then overwhelmingly voted yes on Prop Hate, thereby keeping bigotry alive and well in America.
So to all you 70-Percenters out there–spare me the tears. You haven’t come a long way, baby; you’re right back where you started from, at the front lines of oppression. The only difference is that now you’re the oppressor instead of the oppressed. You are voluntarily pissing on the grave of Martin Luther King Jr. You’re a hypocrite and a sellout. I beg of you, 70-Percenters, change your minds and hearts now. Godspeed.
P.S. To all you 30-Percenters out there, way to go. Much respect. Out.
Ed Decker
11/12/18
Tags: 70 percent of black voters, 70% of black voters, gay marriage, interracial marriage, miscegeneation, no on proposition 8, proposition 8, yes on proposition 8
Dear Ed/Editor,
I looked up the CA domestic partner law, and it says domestic partnership carries the same rights and privileges as marriage, so this issue is just about semantics, not wanting gays to use the Marriage word, and possibly about a ceremony.
I propose a good compromise would be to allow gays to have a domestic partner ceremony, and just not call it marriage, but give them all the same rights as marriage, reserving the word marriage for procreativity. Then we can all stop arguing about semantics and everyone would have a ceremony and the same rights.
The real question to me is, if gays already tried the law re marriage ceremony, and the CA Supreme Court found that denying them marriage ceremony is unconstitutional, how then did the Secretary of State allow a law to be proposed that violates this decision?
Valerie Sanfilippo, BA
(SEIU, Sierra, Moveon)
San Diego, CA 92111
Hey Ed, While you are bemoaning the fact that 7 out of 10 Black voters in California voted for Prop. 8, instead of insulting the “yes” voters, and believe me, I hate this soooo much, because, being Black and gay, I have a higher opinion of Black folks than you obviously do, but….open a local or even national gay rag…show me the Black images, show me anything except a sex ad where a white queen is looking for her Black, hung sex machine…hard to find, huh? Non-Black gay people traditionally moan that we are all in the same boat, while treating their Black & other minority brethren & sistren ??, like we are invisible.
Where was the outreach in the black community? It was non-existent just like the Black images in gay lit. You can teach your children to be anything, except gay…like being a racist or a bigot. If you think gay people are not the biggest racists, having been taught this by a society that didn’t see them coming, then, again, I invite you to open any local gay paper and look for the Black folks.
The so-called gay activists are so busy looking at their own interests that they cannot see what they are doing to their non-white compatriots and don’t seem to even care, except now that they did not have the support of the Black community. Your outrage is LAUGHABLE!
So, please, save your it for the stage. Your moral indignation is mis-placed and you are obviously railing against something that you don’t actually know about, and, by the way, leave Dr. King out of this.
Hypocrites?
I think you’d better take a closer look before you start pointing fingers. The nerve!!
Hey Phillip, thank you for your comments. I appreciate your taking the time to contribute.
Ok, since you mentioned it, here are the 3 reason why I chose to insult the 7 out of 10 black voters and not all YES voters.
1) Black voters had the highest ratio between those who were for and those against. (7 out of 10 is a landslide, by any electoral standards.)
2) Black voters, more than most, have a deeper understanding of what it means to be marginalized, discounted, repudiated, loathed, and mistreated. I would think that would be something they wouldn’t wish on their worst enemies.
3) The election of Barack Obama ties it all together.
You suggest that I have a low opinion of black folk (translation – racist) is truly disturbing to me. So, I need you to reread the column and see exactly who it was I took to task.
The subtitle of the article was, “No love for seven out of 10 black voters in California”
The key words are “voters,” and “California,” and “7 out of 10″
Again, it is only the 70 percent of Californian black VOTERS that I have a low opinion of, and not black voters OUTSIDE of California, nor black voters who voted NO on prop 8, nor black people who didn’t vote at all.
I specifically called to task a group of people based on their actions in the face of a shared experience and therefore nothing racist about it at all.
As for your questions about the LGBT community not reaching out, and not seeing any black faces in gay lit, I can’t speak for what the ratio is between white and black faces in the gay media, I will say this though. I find it hard to believe. Because I can’t think of one gay person I have met who has had bigoted feelings toward African Americans. From my, admittedly unscientific polling, the gays I have met have been VERY supportive of civil rights for everyone.
But, more importantly, what does that matter? Is this tit for tat? Or is this about doing what’s right? Were all those 70 percent African American voters who were standing in the booth thinking, “Hey, you know what, because some media outlets won’t show enough black faces, I’m going to vote YES on 8 and deny all those millions of gays out there, most of whom don’t own or manage newspapers of any kind, their right to marry the person they fall in love with”?
Or did they mostly just think, “Ick, gay is gross and the bible says it’s wrong so it’s YES on prop 8 for me”?
You can laugh at my outrage if you like, but, until everybody is treated equally under the law, and judged based on the content of their character and not all this unimportant, superficial bullshit, I remain pissed off.
ed
Your hypocrisy claim is valid, Ed, and I always chuckle heartily at the witty hyperbole of the righteously angry Ed – stuff like the white supremacist blowing his brains out in the closet is
classic Decker. I have two points:
1. To his credit, it should be pointed out that Obama opposed Proposition 8. This opposition should make it clear that his statements against gay marriage are
meant to be taken as “personal beliefs” (though i agree with Aaryn that this may be a political stance) and not designs for legislation.
2. A pro-Obama voter surge was not the determining factor in the passage of 8, as a lot of right wing pundits have tried to claim. First time voters in California voted against Prop 8 by a 62-38 margin.
Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com writes that “At the end of the day, Prop 8′s passage was more a generational matter than a racial one.
If nobody over the age of 65 had voted, Prop 8 would have failed by a
point or two.” He fairly points out that those voters will soon be gone and a new younger electorate will
move us forward, regardless of whether there is continued dominance of fundamentalist intolerance of
homosexuality in minority communities.
Thanks for the kind words D.A.
1. I don’t know man, I’m not so sure it’s a political stance. It certainly could be, but, it could also be because of all that bible shit that Obama apparently is a fan of. Hard to say, and since we really can’t, I had to go with the man’s words, and the man’s words were that he is “not for gay marriage”
2. In the end, there were many factors involved and to pick a “determining” factor would be impossible. That’s why I worded it as, “probably the determining factor,” because I wasn’t sure, but I still wanted to emphasize what I consider an inarguable point, which is that the black vote landslide was a big, big BIG part of Prop 8 passing.
ed
You’re a racist and a bigot and you should be called out for generalizing black people like that. Martin Luther King is rolling in his grave all right, but not for anything blacks did
Great article this week Ed. You brought a statistic AND an issue to my attention that had slipped through the cracks. Very insightful and provocative, even more than usual for you.
I am one of those “30 percenters” that voted “No on 8.”
I don’t totally buy the 70/30 statistics, because no one is really keeping a tally on the race of each individual person who voted. Mace Windu didn’t give his race when he registered to vote, and he didn’t mark his race on the ballot when he voted absentee.
Still, don’t get me started on the hypocrisy of black people and homosexuality.
A lot of black folks did voted Yes on 8 for the same reason that a lot of Hispanics supported Prop. 8. Blind allegiance to religion and the so-called Christian church. The church is probably the most influential entity in the black community (minus rap videos, crack cocaine and the 40 ounce). There’s a gargantuan “sheep” factor at work, when it comes to how blacks shape their social-political world view. Until blacks wake up and realize that their pastor is pimping them, along with BET, the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint, etc., you can expect nothing more than more “asleep at the wheel” type voting patterns from blacks, like we’ve seen with Prop. 8.
I just finished reading your article and had to write you these lines to say thank you for being ever so right on target. I once had to drink or a least I was suppose to drink out of that “colored” water fountain. I found that the water taste the same out of either fountain. How quickly some people forget what discrimination feels like. I am a firm believer that discrimination of any kind is wrong. It is too bad that some people don’t realize that their religious belief is just that a belief. How long ago was it that there was a law against a Black man marring a white woman. If we allow the legislation of discrimination who knows what will come down the pipe. Again I said thanks and keep the sound mind articles coming.
Ocie E. Henderson
Now that our anger and depression over Prop 8 has subsided, we need to commit to re-framing marriage equality from a religious issue to a civil rights issue, particularly in communities that voted against us.
As a long-time activist/supporter of civil rights I have to admit to initial feelings of betrayal by the African-American community’s vote. But then I started to recall the early civil rights movement and how much of that was helping people to re-think their position on race.
We will succeed if we see the 70% who voted against our equality as potential supporters whom we can bring over to our side but this must be done peacefully and lovingly.
I’m just so fucking tired of religion in politics I could puke. Religious organizations should be banned from involvement in any voter issues because they are promised total freedom to believe and teach their beliefs without interference from their government. Why should I have to suffer the effects of the Mormon church financing a law repealing a supreme court decision? Why should I suffer the cost of defending my freedom from religion. The gaul and hypocrisy of a religious organization forcing it’s will on the very society that protects it is heart-sickening. Even without the religio-fascist element in this decision, I just want everybody out of my private life.
Hey Ed,
Really interesting column, and I have to say it was pretty ballsy. Knowing how many people were going to call you racist and bigot and call for your head for voicing your opinion (which is right on) is what I love about your stuff.
I’m disappointed in everybody who didn’t vote No on 8 — whites, blacks, Hispanics, and everybody who is otherwise fairly intelligent and compassionate. To me it just shows how susceptible to the tactics of hate and fear the general populace is. Even though we took a giant step in electing Obama to the White House, there is still an unbelievable amount of work to do in undoing the prevailing mindsets of homophobia and general bigotry.
I am, however, slightly more inclined to believe that people can eventually make the right decisions, even though they are idiots right now.
Nice work.
[Blogger's note: The following is a letter to the Editor of CityBeat magazine, where this column first appeared.]
Dear Editor,
Re: “Separate But Sequel” (Opinion, 11/11/08). As a conservative Republican, I want to thank Edwin Decker for a good laugh. Hey, after an election like this one, we have to find amusement somewhere. Mr. Decker’s rant against black voters who exercised their constitutional right to vote, just not in the way he or other rabid liberals approve of, was very instructive about modern liberals.
From Ellen DeGeneres to Roseanne Barr to George Takei, from Books of Mormon set on fire and left on church steps to disruption of church services and attacks against parishioners to racial epithets, it is more obvious than ever that liberals, those who preach tolerance and diversity to the rest of the world, don’t condone dissension in their ranks and find it perfectly acceptable to attack those whose beliefs differ from theirs.
Suppose, for the sake of argument, that 70% of gays voted for a proposition to deport illegal aliens. Would Mr. Decker attack them? As Governor Palin would say, “You betcha!”. If the California Supreme Court acts like a supra-legislature again and overturns the will of the voters, we will recall them. Don’t worry about conservatives. We’ll be back.
Rick Medlin
San Diego
Edwin,
I thought this was a very powerful editorial. Thanks for being brave enough to put it out there. Obama led his people to vote for prop 8 by taking a position against gay marriage. I’m glad you stated this because most of the gay community seems to overlook Obama’s position in their worship of the guy.
My only criticism is that when you were talking about “all men are created equal…” you totally forgot about ALL women. You remembered gay men, but not women. It took 72 years of fighting for women to get the right to vote (1848-1920), and this happened 50 years after black men got the right to vote (1870).
As a lesbian, I always hesitate to join with gay men in any kind of political protest as I know that they usually forget women’s rights, all women, lesbian and straight. In your editorial you did just that.
Anyway, still a great editorial,
Sandy Rehmann
PS Citybeat is the newspaper I hate to pick up, and often I don’t. The ads in the back of each issue portraying women as sex objects is disgusting. What’s the deal with this? Are you trying to be a real magazine or just another x-rated rag like the other trash I see on the streets?
Thanks Sandy for the kind words. You know, I labored over that “all men are created equal” line when I was working on the column for the very reason you stated. The reason why I kept it was because, A) That’s what the Declaration of Independence says, and B) I figured it was common knowledge that the “Men” in that sentence refers to mankind and includes both females and males.
So no, I do not believe my column forgot about gay women. The only time I mention gender at all is in the Declaration quote so the equality and fairness I was pleading for was for both gay men and gay women, and EVERYBODY, as demonstrated by the key paragraph of the article…
“So, sorry–no, not cool. Everyone drinks from the same goddamn fountain. That’s the rule. That’s what the Constitution says. That’s the $64,000 answer to a motherfucking 10-cent question.”
I apologize if my column gave the impression that only gay men deserve equality.
As for your questions about the sex ads in the back, you’ll have to take that up with the publishers. I’m just a lowly columnist and have no say in such matters. If I did have a say I would vote to lose the ads as they hurt our credibility but, if I’m to be totally honest, I don’t see a morality problem with it. Sex services are businesses too and have a right to advertise what they are selling. Nobody’s forcing these women to pose for the ads and sexual objectification, in moderation, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I imagine you will disagree with that, but that’s my opinion. Still, those ads are rather cheesy and lame so, on that count, we can agree.
Ed
Damn, Ed. I wanted to write you on the CityBeat website that I loved last week’s editorial, Separate but Sequel, but couldn’t get in there to do it. Damn that ed was good. I’m looserish and not reading the previous comments on your personal website, but it doesn’t matter. I haven’t picked up CB in weeks, clearly missing out, but here I pick it up now and there you are, lucid intellect, no bullshit awesome writing, pointing out what needed to be pointed out. Thanks.
Dear Edwin,
“Tolerant mob” wins the absurd oxymoron award. We all saw the tolerant rich “No on 8″ mob that violently attacked a group of kids in San Francisco for singing songs that promote love, peace and understanding. Not to mention the old ladies that have been beaten and kicked to the ground by these people. This mob, reportedly 500 men strong, must be very proud. Throwing hot coffee into the faces of young girls and beating them with their own Bibles…These kids had been coming to that corner for three years and faced with that mob, in the tradition of Gandhi and Jesus, they turned the other cheek. This is love, this is tolerance.
Do you actually think Christians would form angry mobs, beating children and old ladies if Prop 8 went down to defeat? Prop 8 has revealed the character of those that supported it and those that opposed it. Do we now call the people promoting love, peace and tolerance, the people disgusted by mob violence, intolerant “haters?” Irony rules the day if this proves true. Prop Hate indeed. Even as children we learned that actions speak louder that words.
The only hate I’ve seen is obviously coming from those Orwellian recruits that promote redefining the English language as New Speak. I suppose they support throwing out the constitution as well. It will be an interesting day if the California Supreme Court declares California’s constitution… unconstitutional. Democracy will be replaced with left-wing institutional fascism. This irony will not be lost on many and I’d guess there might be a few people concerned about that prospect. Democracy is not dead…yet.
Love (as currently defined) to all!
peace,
Dave
Hey, first I have to say im white, I voted No on 8 and think it is despicable that it passed. But I do have to say that your article is terribly misleading and placing blame where it really should not be.
First of all, African American’s only made up about 6 percent of the electorate in the vote…they could have split their votes evenly and the prop still would have passed…they would have needed to vote no by about 65 percent to have stopped Prop 8.
What you fail to mention is that 82 percent of Republicans voted yes, 84 percent of weekly church goers voted yes, and 81 percent of Evangelicals voted yes!!!!
I couldnt find the actual statistic but African Americans make up a large majority of these voters…so this is not a racial issue at all, but most definitely a religious issue.
The blame for 8 passing falls squarely on the Christian right, which made up just about 32 percent of the electorate and vo ted over 80 percent yes.
Blaming this prop’s passing on nearly the smallest portion of the actual electorate is absurd. Before writing an article like this that is read by thousands of people, it would be great if you actually looked into the issue a little further. Its a shame that something like this could get published
BC, I did not outright blame the 70 percenters for Prop 8 passing. As I said in my article, they were “probably” the reason it passed. I’ve heard a lot of different mathematics about this issue since the article was written and to be honest, I don’t know what to think about it anymore. Whether or not the 70 percent black voters who voted YES on Prop 8 were the reason it passed, or just PART of the reason is truly insignificant to the point of the column, which I still stand by. The point being, that I do not understand how any individual, who has first hand experience about what it’s like to be oppressed, could then turn around and oppress someone else. I know it happens. I know it’s not rare. I just don’t understand it.
ed