Who Really Killed Prop 8

You can hear it all over the news- Black people are the new oppressors. As radical as it may seem, that is now what news correspondents and political pundits are saying after the passing of Proposition 8, which bans gay marriages in California. Everyone from Rachael Maddow to Bill O’Reilly have acknowledged and put the spotlight on the overwhelming turnout by the Black voting population, pushing gay marriages over the edge to it’s end.
Earlier this year, California passed an amendment making same-sex civil unions recognizable by l aw. In March, Proposition 8 was put on the ballot stating simply “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Eliminates rights of same-sex couples”. And so the campaigning begun. Rick Warren, founder and pastor of one the nation’s largest churches, the Latter- Day Saints and the Association for the American Family all came out strongly to support the proposition, raising approximately $35 million and influencing many on the trail.
The beauty of statistics is that, by omitting a few simple details, can be touted by any one for their own agenda. ( i.e. there seems to be another “leading cause of death” every time you turn around). California statistics show that 70% of the Black vote went towards support of Prop 8. As large as that number seems, 70% of the 6.2% vote (assuming that all who are eligible are not only registered but have also never been convicted of a felony AND turned out Election Day) still wanes terribly in comparison to groups that voted that day. Numbers broken down by shanikka on the Daily Kos show that White Men, 51% of the 31% votes counted, said yes to 8,White Women: 47% of 32%, Latino Men: 54% 0f 8%, Latina Women: 52% of 11% and 51% of 9% of Asian men and women voted yes to 8. The views of Black voters ran concurrent to those of the majority of California voters.
Instead of blaming an entire demographic for not staying marginalized, the media should have looked into a campaign that not only underestimated the black vote but also attempted to garner superficial ties.
Opponents did not start campaigning in black communities until the summer months, holding forums and picnics only after understanding the impact the black vote was going to have on the polls. During the months that they did, Yes To Truth came out to the Black community in the hopes of tying the two struggles together under the common banner of a civil rights movement. Yes did so without truly understanding the intensity of the Civil Rights Movement or the role of the church for black people. The Civil rights Movement was born and fostered in the church. Black communities looked to religious like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X for inspiration and guidance out of a period of separate and dramatically unequal conditions where they lived in constant fear. It is difficult to come into a community with out understanding the inner workings or the innuendos between its residents. Here, the homophobic and hyper-masculine views make up the chasms between the white gay and heterosexual black communities. Instead of trying to get African Americans to relate to their cause, organizers against Prop 8 should have focused on deconstructing the media’s false image of dominating black masculinity.

http://www.yotube.com/watch?v+EQP2998hCm4
http://www.prtoectmarriage.com/
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/11/7/34645/1235/704/656272