warnings

Will Obama Lose Black America’s Support If He Helps Repeal DOMA?

POLITICS-US-OBAMA-MUBARAK

We haven’t a clue what the Black Coalition Against Gay Marriage is, but they have letterhead, apparently, and they are using it to write the president. And warn him of the dangers in supporting same-sex marriage.

Namely, that he’ll lose the support of African-Americans if he comes out swinging for homo marriage rights.

But you probably already beat us to this line: BCAGM is a coalition consisting of a number of religious groups. Of course. Relays EURweb: “The coalition, which includes the veteran civil rights the group Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Concerned African-American Pastors and other religious organizations, is particularly worried about Obama’s intentions regarding the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). … However, in its letter, the Black coalition asserts, ‘Changing the definition of marriage will have many unintended consequences which will hurt generations to come.'”

Except BCAGM and its members aren’t exactly powerful players these days in black civil liberties circles: “CORE, while a veteran group in the Civil Rights Movement, has become increasingly conservative in recent years and has largely been pushed to the fringes of the modern civil rights effort.”

And yet: They do have their supporters. CORE, now headed up by Roy Innis, has been around since the 1940s. They have generations of support, thanks to their noble role in fighting Jim Crow laws, the sit-ins, and freedom rides. And if their letter is to be believed, supporters’ religious convictions are what drives their decisions, not any affinity to Barack Obama because he’s also black.

Which brings us back to an earlier argument, one involving the NAACP: This is why you need to go on the record supporting same-sex marriage. Because while the NAACP remains officially neutral on the subject, plenty of folks in the black community are aligning themselves with organizations that preach acceptable hatred. And without the NAACP championing the plight of gay Americans, they allow their own audience to continue condemning our “lifestyle.”

How sad, then, that CORE is supporting this message to the president. After all, this is the same organization that says “membership in CORE is open to anyone who believes that ‘all people are created equal’ and is willing to work towards the ultimate goal of true equality throughout the world” … right?

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