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by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World
After making the historic decision to announce his support for gay marriage, President Barack Obama has opened up a firestorm of conversation within the African American community. So, in order to help us understand some of this a bit more, I thought I’d give the Dr. Boyce interpretation of what President Obama is trying to say to black people:
1) I knew you were going to agree with me no matter what I said: As your elected president, I don’t work for you, you work for me. If I’d instead come out and said “gay marriage is immoral,” I am entirely sure that Al Sharpton, Earl Ofari Hutchinson and every other Obama Administration evangelist would be making statements that support that decision as well. Your so-called leaders simply repeat what I tell them to believe, for I am the captain of all ships, even when I don’t care enough to occupy the boat.
2) I spoke up for the gay community, because they matter to me more than you do: I know you’re going to give me your votes, no matter what. The only thing I could do that would cause me to lose the black vote is to (as Professor Michael Fauntroy says) divorce Michelle and marry a white woman. My support from the black community is as solid as a rock, no matter what policies I choose to endorse, but the gay community threatened to abandon me if I didn’t give them my backing. By the way, Michelle may be coming to the Essence Music Festival, and I’ll be on BET next month. I’ll be singing Al Green when I get there.
3) I know you have no choice but to give me your vote : What are you going to do? Vote for Mitt Romney? Even Romney has come out and supported a gay rights agenda in the past, but he has little interest in doing much of anything for black people. You know you have no other political options and I know this too. The catchphrase for 2012 Obama-ites should be “I don’t agree with everything Obama does, but…..” That’s similar to Christians who sin all week and say, “but nobody’s perfect,” or the woman who loves a man no matter how many times he cheats on her. Being selective in what you see or don’t see is a critical component of any relationship that is devoid of mutual standards, remember that.
4) I know that many of you don’t like gay people, but that’s your problem: Some of you blame the HIV epidemic among black women on the gay community. Many black women can easily forgive a man for being a diseased philanderer, but they would never forgive that man for being gay. Well, if there is anyone who can help you realize that Civil Rights weren’t just designed for black people, it might be me. Please refer to point three to remind you of why I don’t care what you think on this matter. I support gay rights, some of you don’t. But the bottom line is that preferential treatment will always exist because you have failed to impress me as a serious political constituency. I won you over a long time ago.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition.
After making the historic decision to announce his support for gay marriage, President Barack Obama has opened up a firestorm of conversation within the African American community. So, in order to help us understand some of this a bit more, I thought I’d give the Dr. Boyce interpretation of what President Obama is trying to say to black people:
1) I knew you were going to agree with me no matter what I said: As your elected president, I don’t work for you, you work for me. If I’d instead come out and said “gay marriage is immoral,” I am entirely sure that Al Sharpton, Earl Ofari Hutchinson and every other Obama Administration evangelist would be making statements that support that decision as well. Your so-called leaders simply repeat what I tell them to believe, for I am the captain of all ships, even when I don’t care enough to occupy the boat.
2) I spoke up for the gay community, because they matter to me more than you do: I know you’re going to give me your votes, no matter what. The only thing I could do that would cause me to lose the black vote is to (as Professor Michael Fauntroy says) divorce Michelle and marry a white woman. My support from the black community is as solid as a rock, no matter what policies I choose to endorse, but the gay community threatened to abandon me if I didn’t give them my backing. By the way, Michelle may be coming to the Essence Music Festival, and I’ll be on BET next month. I’ll be singing Al Green when I get there.
3) I know you have no choice but to give me your vote : What are you going to do? Vote for Mitt Romney? Even Romney has come out and supported a gay rights agenda in the past, but he has little interest in doing much of anything for black people. You know you have no other political options and I know this too. The catchphrase for 2012 Obama-ites should be “I don’t agree with everything Obama does, but…..” That’s similar to Christians who sin all week and say, “but nobody’s perfect,” or the woman who loves a man no matter how many times he cheats on her. Being selective in what you see or don’t see is a critical component of any relationship that is devoid of mutual standards, remember that.
4) I know that many of you don’t like gay people, but that’s your problem: Some of you blame the HIV epidemic among black women on the gay community. Many black women can easily forgive a man for being a diseased philanderer, but they would never forgive that man for being gay. Well, if there is anyone who can help you realize that Civil Rights weren’t just designed for black people, it might be me. Please refer to point three to remind you of why I don’t care what you think on this matter. I support gay rights, some of you don’t. But the bottom line is that preferential treatment will always exist because you have failed to impress me as a serious political constituency. I won you over a long time ago.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition.
a waah laff but mi head a hat mi
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