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Proposition 8 - Laying the blame where it belongs

Professor Tracey of Aunt Jemima's Revenge writes of scapegoating of blacks for the passage of Proposition 8:

I suggest reading Facts Belie the Scapegoating of Black People for Proposition 8 and Prop. 8 and thinking before we write and Black homophobia and putting the blame for Prop 8 where it belongs. You would have found concern, disappointment, and community kinship at Pam's Houseblend, What Tami Says, A Choice Of Weapons, and not to mention the multiple posts on Proposition 8 at Racialicious.

NPR also has a good discussion here, which begins with the report of remarks targeted against blacks on the street.

Darkrose writes at Pam's Houseblend:

There's no question that homophobia is a problem in the black community, especially the churchgoing segment of said community. And even though I understand why Obama (and all of the other serious Democratic candidates) weaseled on marriage equality, that doesn't mean I'm not disappointed in him for not taking a strong stand against 8.

At the same time, I'm frustrated and angry by the rush to pin this defeat on African Americans. It wasn't a black group that put Prop 8 on the ballot, and paid the signature-gatherers and bankrolled the ads. Nor is it fair to say that Obama's have-it-both-ways position meant that black voters were going to march sheeplike to the polls and vote as Obama dictated.

Writing off an entire race as hopelessly unenlightened isn't going to help; in fact, a lot of the rhetoric I've seen in the left blogosphere tonight is only going to serve to reinforce the idea that "gay" = "white", and that the gay community only notices people of color when there's a comparison to the Civil Rights Movement to be made. And the Blame the Brown People push leaves those of us who are queer people of color marginalized by both of our communities.

That's not the way to build a coalition, and it's not the way to win.

Blame the Brown People - Recipe for Failure

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