Capitol Hill Blue Forums We shall overcome

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But the black civil rights movement was essentially born out of and driven by the black church; social justice and religion are inextricably intertwined in the black community. To many blacks, civil rights are grounded in Christianity -- not something separate and apart from religion but synonymous with it. To the extent that the issue of gay marriage seemed to be pitted against the church, it was going to be a losing battle in my community.

This is a statement of fact, not an apology. The fact that it states is that the Black churchgoers are no different than White churchgoers in their views about homosexuality, and it is presumptuous and condescending for White people to assume they "should" feel differently because they are Black.

In all the post-election commentary about California's passage of Proposition 8, perhaps none was more offensive and wrong than Jasmyne A. Cannick's Times Op-Ed article, "No-on-8’s white bias.”

Cannick's piece raises important questions about the politically correct double standards that govern debate of gay rights issues. When white evangelical Christians (or Mormons, for that matter) attack gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people, the response is loud and harsh: Bigots! Homophobes! Haters! But when black religious leaders attack gays, which is a regular occurrence in many churches, the response is muted because, well, it's a cultural thing and we white people just wouldn't understand. Bigotry is bigotry, whether emanating from the pulpits of white churches or black ones.

Cannick writes, "But even I wasn't inspired to encourage black people to vote against the proposition. ... I don't see why the right to marry should be a priority for me or other black people. Gay marriage? Please. At a time when blacks are still more likely than whites to be pulled over for no reason, more likely to be unemployed than whites, more likely to live at or below the poverty line, I was too busy trying to get black people registered to vote, period; I wasn't about to focus my attention on what couldn't help but feel like a secondary issue."

The argument that many black voters are too preoccupied with more practical matters to think too much about gay marriage is not entirely illegitimate. But it's an argument for apathy, not a rational or legitimate justification for actively supporting discriminatory laws.

Please, show me where she says "white gay men are wealthy". Please.

White church goers did not vote 70-30 for Prop 8 but black church goers did, according to her analysis.

But black church goers are different than white church goers on this issue. That is my point, Steve.

But when black religious leaders attack gays, which is a regular occurrence in many churches, the response is muted because, well, it's a cultural thing and we white people just wouldn't understand.

Steve, it strains credulity to suggest that some 5 million people who voted against proposition 8 are non church goers. I know we are a blue state, but c'mon.

She wrote that "images" of gays are white and wealthy.