I know Keith Olbermann has been mentioned here previously, but I think we should also mention African American columnist Leonard Pitts. I found this on afterelton.com. It's interesting to hear about all the diverse supporters and straight allies we have.
http://www.afterelton.com/bgwe/11-14-08?page=0%2C3 KEITH OLBERMANN ISN'T OUR ONLY ROCKIN' STRAIGHT ALLY
Another name that us gay folks should be singing the praise of is African American columnist Leonard Pitts who has been a friend of the gays for a long, long time now. Pitts, who writes for The Miami Herald has been such a great ally that in 2003 GLAAD named him Outstanding Newspaper Columnist and The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force honored him in 2007. Well, Pitts is at it again, this week writing a column about the passage of Proposition 8 titled Some blacks forgot sting of discrimination.
heart Leonard. And you should too. Why not drop him an email in appreciation — because trust me, he's getting the hate mail.
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/767511.html Some blacks forgot sting of discriminationBy LEONARD PITTS JR.lpitts@miamiherald.com
Sometimes, progress carries an asterisk. That's as good a summary as any of a sad irony from last week's historic election. You will recall one of the major storylines of that day was the fact that, in helping make Barack Obama the nation's first black president, African Americans struck a blow against a history that has taught us all too well how it feels to be demeaned and denied. Unfortunately, while they were striking that blow, some black folks chose to demean and deny someone else.
Last week, you see, California voters passed an initiative denying recognition to same-sex marriages. This overturned an earlier ruling from the state Supreme Court legalizing those unions. The vote was hardly a surprise; surely there is nothing in politics easier than to rouse a majority of voters against the ''threat'' of gay people being treated like people.
But African Americans were crucial to the passage of the bill, supporting it by a margin of better than two to one. To anyone familiar with the deep strain of social conservatism that runs through the black electorate, this is not surprising either. It is, however, starkly disappointing. Moreover, it leaves me wondering for the umpteenth time how people who have known so much of oppression can turn around and oppress.
Yes, I know. I can hear some black folk yelling at me from here, wanting me to know it's not the same, what gays have gone through and what black people did, wanting me to know they acted from sound principles and strong values. It is justification and rationalization, and I've heard it all before. I wish they would explain to me how they can, with a straight face, use arguments against gay people that were first tested and perfected against us.
When, for instance, they use an obscure passage from the Bible to claim God has ordained the mistreatment of gays, don't they hear an echo of white people using that Bible to claim God ordained the mistreatment of blacks?
When they rail against homosexuality as ''unnatural,'' don't they remember when that word was used to describe abolition, interracial marriage and school integration? When they say they'd have no trouble with gay people if they would just stop ''flaunting'' their sexuality, doesn't it bring to mind all those good ol' boys who said they had no problem with ''Nigras'' so long as they stayed in their place?
No, the black experience and the gay experience are not equivalent. Gay people were not the victims of mass kidnap or mass enslavement. No war was required to strike the shackles from their limbs.
But that's not the same as saying blacks and gays have nothing in common. On the contrary, gay people, like black people, know what it's like to be left out, lied about, scapegoated, discriminated against, held up, beat down, denied a job, a loan or a life. And, too, they know how it feels to sit there and watch other people vote upon your very humanity, just as if those other people had a right. So beg pardon, but black people should know better. I feel the same when Jews are racist, or gays anti-Semitic. Those who bear scars from intolerance should be the last to practice it.
Sadly, we are sometimes the first. That tells you something about how seductive a thing intolerance is, how difficult it can be to resist the serpent whisper that says it's OK to ridicule and marginalize those people over there because they look funny, or talk funny, worship funny or love funny. So in the end, we struggle with the same imperative as from ages ago: to overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. But if last week's vote taught us nothing else, it taught us that persistence plus faith equals change.
And we shall overcome.
Submitted by
on November 19, 2008 - 3:57am.
Thank You
Thank you Leonard Pitts. The insidious double standard that many African Americans have engaged in on the gay rights issue needs to be addressed out in the open. It's time that a mirror was put up to the hypocrisy of those who fought for their own civil rights, and then would deny those very same rights to others. (BTW, I am African American).
May common sense and decency prevail in hopes of honoring the humanity of all.
Amen, sister!
Michael Eric Dyson
should be included in this as well but hey his views get belittled because he is "too intellectual" for some people. But I absolutely loved when he wrote about homophobia in the black church because he puts his own truthful spin on the gay rights issue for African Americans.
Thank you Leonard Pitts as well.
feeling love sick
Pitts
Leonard Pitts is pretty awesome. I read this article earlier today and emailed it to a bunch of my friends and co-workers. The main person I want to read this article is my mother. She's one of those people that are against homosexuality because "the bible tells her so."I didn't send it to her though, the last time I sent her a great article like this she told me "don't send me that garbage." So I don't.
What's so upsetting about this though, if you go to the miami herald online and read the comments people put in response to this article...its no wonder the amendment passed :-(