I am not gay and I am not black, but I am offended by Cannick's lack of logical acumen and her apologia for her inaction and the homophobia of her community. And yes, I read both articles, and I still think that her position is ignorant and ill-informed. She is just too self-absorbed to understand other points of view. That's my opinion. Yes, there should have been a different approach by the "no" campaign, but her language is inflammatory and racist - which should be shocking, but it consistent with a certain portion of the "activist" community - the "holier than thou" wing, of which I believe Ms. Cannick is an occupant. Specifically, lines like
To the extent that any of this matters to me enough to say anything, it will be to point out to my brothers and sisters that historically, neither white gays or white conservatives have ever been known to have the best interest of Blacks at heart.
What did change for me was my willingness to actively engage myself in a struggle that's been from the beginning, and continues to be, elitist. Plainly put, the gay marriage struggle is the perfect example of white gay America’s “superiority complex” in action. And before you scream that I’m a racist, I’d encourage you to step outside of your whiteness for a moment and take a look at the marriage movement through someone else’s eyes.
Enter the Black same-gender-loving community. Our worth in the gay civil rights movement, whether you choose to believe it or not, amounts to our willingness to be used in photo ops and carry their message of marriage to Blacks, putting aside all other issues. That’s it.
She seems to be carrying a lot of resentment for someone
who wasn't alive during the civil rights movement.
Jasmyne Cannick Blog It's not that she supported Prop 8, but her apologia is offensive, because it is based upon an attitude of "victimhood." It harks back to a different, older kind of activist attitude. I have read more of her than just these articles, and within her "community" she is more outspoken, but carries that insularity like a badge of honor. She is more about "blackness" than anything.
But more significantly, she is young and uninterested in marriage. That is a division within the gay community that is probably more profound than the black-gay divide. There are those that see marriage as the ultimate and singular issue, and those that are more incremental in their approach to gay civil rights. That is really the area she is trying - in my opinion inartfully - to address. But poorly formed arguments can be just as destructive as ignorance, which is what my original point was intended to convey.
