I just read Jasmyne A. Cannick's article about Prop 8 and the Black response. I have to say that I usually agree with Jasmyne on certain things, but on this topic I disagree with some points. There were some parts that I see differently and can't completely follow.
For example she said: I don't see why the right to marry should be a priority for me or other black people. Gay marriage? Please. At a time when blacks are still more likely than whites to be pulled over for no reason, more likely to be unemployed than whites, more likely to live at or below the poverty line, I was too busy trying to get black people registered to vote, period; I wasn't about to focus my attention on what couldn't help but feel like a secondary issue.
The way I see it, the white gay community is banging its head against the glass ceiling of a room called equality, believing that a breakthrough on marriage will bestow on it parity with heterosexuals. But the right to marry does nothing to address the problems faced by both black gays and black straights. Does someone who is homeless or suffering from HIV but has no healthcare, or newly out of prison and unemployed, really benefit from the right to marry someone of the same sex?
No, it doesn't address those issues, but does that mean I shouldn't talk about it or address it? I understand that our struggles is different, however the conversations could be paramount to change. I don't want to get into a place where we are saying that your issue isn't my issue so screw you. We should look at the problems and figure out how each step can be taken.
Yes, I do agree that more could've been done to inform the minority masses about Prop 8. But this "give something to get something" game is not the best way to go about it. If the X-Men only dealt with mutant issues and not the issues facing the world or the universe, they wouldn't be the X-Men. And if they took the approach of: until you address the mutant problem, we won't help the world, they wouldn't be heroes.
I'm still feeling this article out, so I may come back to this at a later time.
1 comment:
I sort of understand her position. If I was forced to decide between decent healthcare for everyone or gay marriage, I'd want the free healthcare.
But it is also this same thinking that allows me to EMPATHISE with others and put everyone's problems before my own. She should keep that in mind. Can you imagine if white people of the era had said "I am too busy trying to help poor white people to care enough about your black civil rights. Sorry."?
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