Prop 8: Black Support Exaggerated

Claire Light
February 2, 2009

I'm not sure how I missed this, but the San Francisco Chronicle reported last month on a new study analyzing precinct-level voting data, which put the black pro-Prop 8 vote at 58 percent.

This is still significantly above the general 52 percent pro-Prop 8
vote, but the article didn't say how the other communities of color did
in this revision. I've heard elsewhere that the Latino vote was revised
upward from the original 53 percent that came from the exit poll, but I
haven't heard anything about Asians.

While I was just as shocked as everyone else to see the (now apparently faulty) 70 percent number (and I expressed my shock publicly),
I was also disappointed to see a lot of people use that number as an
excuse to get in some free punches at the African American communities,
and equally disappointed to see some African Americans denying that gays
had any real oppression to contend with.

I hope that this revision calms down the stupidity of oppression
olympics. The overall pro-Prop 8 vote was 52 percent. That means we ALL have a
lot of work to do in our communities. And people of color especially
need to look to our own communities and recognize that our own fight
for justice does not inoculate us from stepping on justice for others.

Categories: 
News and Politics
News and Politics
Race
Contributor: 

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Comments

Comments

Liberal Sista wrote on Mon, 10/26/2009 - 2:34pm
I found the results of Prop 8 to be morbidly disgusting! Although I am a Black heterosexual female, nevertheless I have always supported gay marriages, same-sex adoptions, as well as upholding the Supreme Court decision of Roe V Wade. Unfortunately, Christianity has a played a vital role in many Black communities. Many African Americans are physically liberal, but socially conservative. What went wrong with Prop 8 and the Black vote? A.S.S.U.M.P.T.I.O.N and BAD MARKETING! There is a smaller percentage of Blacks living in California than any other ethnicity group. There are more faith-based televised sermons advertised on BET, than MTV or VH1. There were no grassroots campaign pushing the opposition agenda of Prop 8 in Black and Hispanic urban/suburban areas. Kanye West, a rapper who has openly expressed his support for gay marriages would have been a great spokesperson for the Black community. Politics is a game of chess, and Prop 8 is just one of the 16 pieces! The Mormans understood their religious constituents. If you want to forward a faith based agenda among minorities, then target the Black churches. President Bush did this during his Presidential campaign. Trying to push Prop 8 right after the Presidential victory of President Obama {without gaining a favorable amount of attention to this subject from Blacks and Hispanics} was infantile. You want Prop 8 eradicated? Then reach out to the Black community. It's NEVER too late! I still support same sex marriages.
alex wrote on Mon, 02/02/2009 - 8:59pm
i'm glad someone is still talking about this issue.it seems to me that the news media as well as some within the gay community feel a need to point fingers, to put blame on a community, as to why prop. 8 was passed in california.the truth of the matter is there is homophobia in the black community just as there is racism in the lgbt community. there is patriarchy in the asian community just as there may be any number of oppressive ideologies in any 'community' picked from a hat. this is just the way hegemony works. many communities of struggle don't realize that oppression is first systemic, and individual second.get these communities to realize the intersectionality of their lives and the inability to talk singularly about race/class/gender/sexual orientation/etc, and it will be then that some real cross-cultural progress and acceptance will be made.
relax wrote on Tue, 02/03/2009 - 9:03pm
Alex you hit it right on the nail, call me mean, but, I dont see what the big deal is about prop 8. California get over it.I have some new striking new for you, Miley Ray Cyrus offends Asians.http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090203/en_nm/us_cyrus
JustPuked wrote on Wed, 02/04/2009 - 8:00am
If you want to point fingers, look at the percentage of money supporting prop 8 that came from out of state and specifically Utah. Obviously the votes happened in California, but any true politico knows the votes tend to follow the money. The source of the money shows support of prop 8 wasn’t so much about fissures in California communities as it was outside meddling special interests. Defeating the next iteration of prop 8 won’t happen if we’re busy sniping at each other instead of taking on the cabal of special interests intent on imposing their religious restrictions on our communities.
claire wrote on Wed, 02/04/2009 - 12:49pm
relax: i don't think "prop 8 isn't a big deal, get over it" was alex's point.justpuked: try reading the post and links next time. nobody's arguing that money for yes on 8 didn't come from out of state. that doesn't deny that no on 8 and allies did a piss-poor job of appealing to our communities. it's on US that we failed to get our message across to our own folks, and left them open to yes on 8 tactics.