Thursday, November 6, 2008

Does Anyone Understand the Word Change?

After a historical election it's so sad to see that people still don't get it. After years of demanding equality for themselves b/c of being discriminated for their skin colour, being considered a minority in their own country, a great majority still feels its okay to discriminate against others. Even though the vote was driven by the message of 'change', some truly can't.
I'm black and gay. It was nice to see after so long that the US was able to elect a black man to the white house (which I think the name should change). It truly gave hope to many. But I'm angry that my fellow Black and Latino brothers and sisters can't seem to grasp the understanding that discrimination is discrimination. You take one step forward and then another step back. Terrible!!

Facts Below:

A lot of Obama/Yes-on-8 voters? The Associated Press exit polls show that African Americans and Latinos backed Proposition 8 in good numbers. Details here from AP:

California's black and Latino voters, who turned out in droves for Barack Obama, also provided key support in favor of the state's same-sex marriage ban. Seven in 10 black voters backed a successful ballot measure to overturn the California Supreme Court's May decision allowing same-sex marriage, according to exit polls for The Associated Press.

More than half of Latino voters supported Proposition 8, while whites were split. Religious groups led the tightly organized campaign for the measure, and religious voters were decisive in getting it passed. Of the seven in 10 voters who described themselves as Christian, two-thirds backed the initiative. Married voters and voters with children strongly supported Proposition 8. Unmarried voters were heavily opposed

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for saying it.

When those black (and latino) pastors/preachers were running up and down California saying things like I didn't choose to be black (or spanish) and don't equate sin with skin, none of these people spoke out, so they're getting what they deserve, AFAIC.

TPC said...

It's very disturbing that a supposedly democratic country like America would vote IN FAVOUR of something like this. With the world worrying about an economic crisis, this is what they choose to focus on?

Avenue Road said...

Agree. I'm not sure why they need to vote on it at all. There are bigger issues in the country to worry about.

Anonymous said...

Well, as a GLBT European militant I was pissed off by the result of the referendum. And yet, we have to take into consideration many factors.

First of all, in year 2000 there was a similar referendum that passed with 61% of the yes. So we gained 8/9% in 8 years, which is very good. On top of that, scanning the voters according to their age, it comes out that those below the age of 34 voted mainly against the ban, with a report of 2 to 1, while amongst the elderly the ban was very popular.

This means that within 3-5 years in California the YES will win the absolute majority.

Another question is: is a referendum among the entire population the proper juridical tool to decide the civil rights of a minority? Probably not. The 90% of the voters, those who are straight, don't really understand what it means to be discriminated on the basis of their sexual orientation, therefore they vote No or Yes on the basis of an instinct, or for a slogan, or following a prejudice. More or less, it's like asking in a referendum: Do you want to pay taxes? The overwhelming majority would answer "NO", but this doesn't mean that taxes can be erased for everybody.

About the black/latino vote on this referendum: Blacks and Latinos come from a generally homophobic culture, or, better said, a more homophobic culture than the others. That's why they are the ones who need to understand better the meaning of equality for GLBT people. Obama has the occasion to make even this change, to me.

Anonymous said...

What's not to understand? It's easier for people to be stupid, ignorant, and apathetic than to realize they've been bamboozled by con men posing as religious leaders or politicians who play into fears for personal or political gain.

Anonymous said...

Ng, right. That's why they need to understand better how the things really are.

Avenue Road said...

I guess the reason why some have a hard time understanding or supporting the notion of GLBT equality is b/c the the notion that homosexuality isn't a fact of nature, but a fact of choice still exist. And until people can understand that it isn't a fact of choice but of nature, they won't equate racism based on ethnic background to be the same as sexual preference.