One small step forward for racial equality, one huge leap backward for sexual equality

[sixunneuf]

Oh, the irony! It looks like because of the heavy black turnout in this election to vote into office a single black man, millions of Americans will lose the right to marry and adopt children. This isn't really that big of a surprise - Prop 8 in California was obviously going to be tight, and everyone knows that black Americans more homophobic

Comments

[sixunneuf]

Uh, seriously? Are there any facts presented here you'd like to take issue with? Or is that just a knee-jerk reaction?

[jenlight]

Do you have any facts to back up your claim?

[sixunneuf]

Are you too lazy to click the link, or did you just miss it...?

[stalktheground]

Actually Obama did speak out about homophobia starting all the way back in the day in 2007 and into early 2008, but then he more or less stopped as soon as he realized he could win over voters by being vague about absolutely fucking everything. Here's an old school quote from the pbs primary debates:

"One of the things we've got to overcome is a stigma that still exists in our communities. We don't talk about this. We don't talk about it in schools. Sometimes we don't talk about it in churches. It has been an aspect sometimes of our homophobia that we don't address this issue as clearly as it needs to be." (source here, and yeah it's a fucking blog called pam's house blend, but whatever)

And also there's another speech referenced here and here where he not only brings up homophobia but anti-semitism and xenophobia

[sixunneuf]

He has spoken out about homophobia, but I was referring specifically to speaking out about Prop 8.

And regarding who was funding the operation, my theory about political advertising is that it's not nearly as influential as people think it is. (The studies show the same thing - the only political advertising that really works is door-to-door and personal phone calls. I can't find it right now, but I was listening to a segment on NPR where some Harvard professor said he did a study and that's what it found.) So, I think the reason it failed isn't so much because white people paid a lot of money to convince people to vote it down, but rather because of entrenched homophobia in the black community.

[stalktheground]

Ah, I figured you were speaking about the country in general since there was also homophobic legislation passed in Florida, Arkansas, and Arizona. But yeah, in terms of California, Obama was openly against prop 8, however self-contradictory that may be.

From the prop 8 wiki entry: "While a Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Senator, Barack Obama stated that he personally considers marriage to be between a man and woman, and supports civil unions that confer comparable rights rather than gay marriage. However, he stated that he opposed the proposition and other attempts to amend the federal and state constitutions" [1] [2But yeah, his stance against gay marriage was likely to have affected some voters, I won't deny, especially since the no on 8 campaign pretty much failed to use his endorsement for any useful purpose whatsoever. I'm sure many were under the misconception that obama would have been in favor of 8 based on his statements during the debates

[rojonoir]

"So, I think the reason it failed isn't so much because white people paid a lot of money to convince people to vote it down, but rather because of entrenched homophobia in the black community."

marginal yes-no black votes: (5,417,748 + 4,907,867) * 0.1 * (0.7-0.3) = 413,024
total yes votes minus total no votes: 5,417,748 - 4,907,867 = 509,881

If all black people had stayed home, proposition 8 would have still passed. Feel free to keep thinking things that are wrong, though - everybody's got to have a hobby, I suppose.

[anonymous]

uh, yeah except 7/10 african americans in california voted against prop 8

Re: also:

[sixunneuf]

No, it was actually the exact opposite. 70% of blacks in California voted for Prop 8.

[sadie_sabot]

wasn't the black people who go that shit passed, it was the fucking mormons. and homophobes, who come in all ethnic and racial subgroups. ffs.

there is no more homophobia in the black community than there is in the white community.

[sixunneuf]

1. The white people paid for the commercials, but the black people voted. Like I wrote earlier, there's evidence that political advertising like the Mormons paid for isn't very effective.

2. That's a pretty naïve thing to say...of course there's more homophobia among blacks than whites.

[appledexterlini]

"of course there's more homophobia among blacks than whites."

So...have you given up on providing pathetic, irrelevant "evidence" for your nonsensical claims?

[terry_terrible]

Agreed. If sixenneuf is so keen on numbers; where is the data to support this claim?

also:

[sadie_sabot]

I just love it when racist comments are prefaced with "everyone knows..."

Re: also:

[sixunneuf]

...? Are you denying that there's more homophobia in the black community than in the white community/American as a whole? If that's so, can you explain to me why blacks voted overwhelmingly against gay marriage, whereas the overall vote was almost tied?

Re: also:

[mountainbed]

how can you even measure that?

Re: also:

[sixunneuf]

By looking at voting outcomes on gay rights issues (like this one)?