But she is apologizing for the behavior of voters who acted ignorantly in the sense that their viewpoint was myopic and wrong.
I've read the essay three times now Phil. It does not come across to me as an apology for anything. It appears to me that Ms. Cannick is offering A) a reality check and B) some very good advice that the gay community as a whole would profit by if it wants to open the wider Black community to the idea of gay marriage as a civil rights issue. For example:
Opponents of Proposition 8 relied on an outdated civil rights model, engaging the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People to help win black support on the issue of gay marriage. This happened despite the warnings of black lesbians and gays that it wouldn't work. While the NAACP definitely should have been included in the strategy, it shouldn't have been the only group.
Ms. Cannick herself expresses so many stereotypes in that piece it is breathtaking.
Does she? Why not quote her then, instead of paraphrasing?
All white gay men are wealthy?
I don't believe she comes anywhere near saying that. She does say this though:
Maybe white gays could afford to be singularly focused, raising millions of dollars to fight for the luxury of same-sex marriage. But blacks were walking the streets of the projects and reaching out to small businesses, gang members, convicted felons and the spectrum of an entire community to ensure that we all were able to vote.
[SNIP]
. . . holding the occasional town-hall meeting in Leimert Park -- the one part of the black community where they now feel safe thanks to gentrification -- to tell black people how to vote on something gay isn't effective outreach either.
To me, this looks like good advice.
Please, show me where she says "white gay men are wealthy". Please.
All white gay men are prejudiced?
Again, Phil, if you would be so kind as to
quote what Ms. Cannick said that led you to make such an accusation, I would be glad to discuss it.
White gay men are riding on the back of the civil rights movement?
Again, Phil, if you would be so kind as to
quote what Ms. Cannick said that led to your impassioned defense of your own actions in 1957, I'd like to give it some thought.
The black community has a lot of growing up to do . . .
I respect and concur with your feeling that way about folks who are opposed to gay marriage. At the same time, I respect and concur with Ms. Cannick's feeling that the
White community still has a lot of growing up to do.
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.
