Blacks Should Fight Budget Cuts, Not Gay Marriage
New America Media, Commentary, Jasmyne A. Cannick, Posted: Jun 07, 2009
Before you open that bottle of champagne, can of beer, or bottle of Hennessy in celebration of the recent decision by the California Supreme Court upholding Proposition 8 and the ban on gay marriage, did you ever stop to think maybe the joke is on us?
Last November, blacks voted overwhelmingly in support of Prop. 8, ensuring that lesbian and gay couples, including black couples, continue to be treated as second-class citizens. Everyone had an opinion, from the tennis courts to the pulpit. And whether black support of Prop. 8 had more to do with religious beliefs or plain old fashioned homophobia, the fact remains that two people getting married, same-sex or not, has no financial impact on the rest of us. None. We may not like it, but at the end of the day, gay marriage doesn’t take food from anyone’s mouth, clothes off anyone’s back, or a roof from over someone’s head. But judging from the way we acted, you would have thought that it did.
Flash forward and California finds itself in the middle of a never-ending fiscal nightmare. A nightmare that has Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger threatening to put vital programs, including health insurance for the poor, financial help for unemployed single mothers, and a state program that provides antiviral drugs for people living with AIDS, on the chopping block to close a $24.3-billion budget deficit. Cuts that will surely have the hardest impact on blacks living at or below the poverty line in California. Cuts that will take food from someone’s mouth, clothes off someone’s back, and a roof from over someone’s head and yet with us, it’s business as usual.
While many of our black churches were instrumental in making sure that their congregations supported Prop. 8, I can’t say that the same energy has been put into making sure that we’re aware of the impact the governor’s proposed budget cuts will have on blacks in California.
Which leaves me to question if blacks are more concerned about whether two men or women commit to loving and caring for each other than they are about cuts to vital programs that affect all of us? Because let me tell you, me getting married tomorrow isn’t nearly going have the same impact on black California as hundreds of thousands of out of work, hungry, and homeless black people are. You think crime is bad now, you just wait and see. Message!
Lest I forget to mention that our support of Prop. 8 only ensured that gay organizations fighting for marriage continue to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep the fight going, while many black organizations are operating on the brink of bankruptcy. Message!
Just six months into Pres. Obama’s term, gays called him out during a recent trip to California. Angry because of the court's decision to uphold Prop. 8, the gay community reminded the president of his promise to support equality for gays.
I wonder if blacks would ever think of protesting their first black president to make sure that he addressed issues relevant not only to middle-class Americans but to those Americans living at or below the poverty line. I’m just saying, while I don’t always agree with the gay community’s tactics, they sure do know how to make their voice heard. Message!
So I’ll say it again: maybe the joke is on us. Because even though the courts upheld Prop. 8, it’s not white, affluent gays by and large who are unemployed, with homes in foreclosure, living at or below the poverty line. It’s us. It’s us stressing out over the rent and the bills while making the liquor store owners and the state richer with every bottle of Hennessy and lottery ticket bought.
Blacks support for denying gays the right to get married isn’t going to make gays heterosexual or force them to stop having sex with each other. Nor is it going to guarantee blacks who supported Prop. 8 their passage into heaven. No law will ever legislate or guarantee that. In the meantime, our support of non-relevant issues, like Prop. 8 and neglect of the real issues that affect us all will ensure that blacks continue to be at the bottom of the food chain in California—even with a black president.
Black people need to stop focusing on issues that do not affect our pocketbooks and quality of life and address the issues that do affect all of us and that we can control, starting with the governor and the Legislature. We can start by adopting the same gangster-like mentality that the gays have taken on: either the government and elected officials are with us or against us, and if they’re against us, there should be consequences, re-election and passes.
Jasmyne A. Cannick s a critic and commentator based in Los Angeles who writes about the worlds of pop culture, race, class, sexuality, and politics as it relates to the African-American community. She can be reached at www.jasmynecannick.com.
Related Articles:
Marriage: A Question of Rights, Not Politics
Page
1 of 1
|
User Comments
a on Jun 08, 2009 at 16:19:28 said:
"the fact remains that two people getting married, same-sex or not, has no financial impact on the rest of us."
Actually, allowing same-sex marriage would have brought some more money into the state and saved a few caterers, photographers, etc.
FJ Stratford on Jun 07, 2009 at 14:16:37 said:
I like some of your comments. Economic issues should be given more importance. As for the gay issues, I think part of the problem is that gay black Americans are not as open as they should be. Hence, the gay push for equality, is seen as something "foreign".
andrew on Jun 07, 2009 at 09:56:29 said:
As a young white boy I watched in horror as black folks were treated like dirt in America, and vowed I would do what I could to help. I had arguments with my parents, friends and community over racism, about how wrong and cruel it was. I refused to restrict myself to a narrow 'white' world.
It was good training for my own future: I came out of the closet as a gay teenager. I learned immediatly what it felt like to to be spit upon, beaten up, and fired from my job 'just because' I was different.
I've never lost my conviction that treating other people as second class citizens is wrong.
Yes It was and is heartbreaking to know that some black preachers fought to take away my civil rights. But what's done is done. I hope that healing begins.
I would hope that everyone, black or white, realizes we all breathe the same air, pay the same taxes, and have to get along.
All we gay folks want is to get married. Not in a church, but in a courthouse. Just like everyone else.
achali on Jun 07, 2009 at 04:13:05 said:
Who knows if the author is even reading this... but I'm buggin over the fact that you really went ahead and said...
"It’s us stressing out over the rent and the bills while making the liquor store owners and the state richer with every bottle of Hennessy and lottery ticket bought."
I feel you on being disappointed in black folks for contributing (keyword) to the banning of gay marriage. But come on, when will you stop acting so shocked and awed? What did you expect?
Until the black gay community and the mainstream black community are practicing healthy diplomacy with eachother, OF COURSE you're going to see this, because the mainstream in black communities are indeed suffering from the same shit the larger mainstream is suffering from. Cause we're basically riding the coattails of capitalism and white patriarchy.
My point is twofolks: first, you're not even reaching the people you are trying to "call out" with this article. So, who are you talking to?
Second, blacks are only like 10% of the population in Cali... meaning: just cause they were a swing vote, THEY ARE NOT TO BLAME.
You should be real clear on that. And if you were prioritizing your energy in "calling out" anyone, you'd think it would AT LEAST include the huge segments of other populations that are included in the rest of the 90% of the voting population in Cali. Can we get at least one sentence that acknowledges that? shit. lol.
Tasha on Jun 07, 2009 at 01:44:48 said:
I don't agree with this article. The Black community should not put all its focus on stopping the budget cuts. We should be putting our energy into getting above the poverty line, not needing these programs.
-->