Friday, November 21, 2008

Time to Overcome Black Homophobia


Whilst marking their ballot boxes in favour of Barack Obama last Tuesday, 70% of African American voters in California -- just one of the states that have passed Proposition 8 -- also marked their ballot boxes against gay marriage.

With African-Americans turning out in record numbers last week to vote for Barack Obama -- California saw an increase of some 500,000 black voters -- many gay rights supporters are now angry at what they see as an apparent hypocrisy amongst African American voters, who they perceive as having used their numbers to help elect America's first black president whilst simultaneously voting to deny freedoms to another minority. (It's interesting to note Barack Obama's position on the matter -- he is against gay marriage, but supports civil unions and doesn't believe there should be a ban on same-sex marriage, a slightly contradictory position.)

Gay rights supporters are surprised that African Americans could have voted against gay marriage believing that they, more than anyone, should understand discrimination having suffered from it for so long. However, not only are African Americans traditionally conservative when it comes to homosexuality -- carrying strong, often negative and deeply religious feelings about the issue -- some are not convinced that that gay rights are, as many activists believe, on a par with the civil rights issues that black people have faced.

Naturally, many African Americans are pretty irritated at the blame that is being heaped at their doorstep. After all, they were not only ones to vote for a ban on gay marriage. As Raymond Leon Roker points out 49% of Asian Americans, 53% of Hispanics and nearly 50% of white voters -- who make up 63% of the voting population in California voted in favour of the proposition. Furthermore, in California, black voters make up a small proportion of the population and therefore could not have statistically have made the major difference.

Regardless of who is to blame, the African-American community (and black communities around the world) does have an issue -- a deep rooted and as yet very much unresolved one - with homosexuality that needs to be addressed.

Discussions about homosexuality within the black community still often revolve around homophobic attitudes, often couched in and absolved by references to religion and the Bible. We often hear, from young and old, about sin and Sodom and Gomorrah in conversations about homosexuality. Using religion is a good way for people uncomfortable with homosexuality to shut down discussion: after all, how do you argue with the Bible? Preaching the Bible is fine, but it does nothing to address the very pressing issues that our black lesbian and gay community members face.

Our issue with homosexuality is also partly about our own struggles and conflicts over black masculinity and femininity. Whilst black people often complain about the images of black men and women that have been forced upon us and perpetuated through the media, we also struggle with our own ideas about what it means to be a black man or woman. Unfortunately, there is little room for homosexuality within any such discussions.

"No homo," a phrase popularized by rappers is one example of the issues surrounding black masculinity. Expressions of emotion or intimacy (particularly between two men), according to the "no homo" rule, is gay and therefore bad and it should be made known that said expression carries no homosexual connotations, hence the use of the phrase "no homo."

When intimacy and expression are equated in black popular culture, with being gay which is openly and unequivocally equated with being bad, what message does that send not only to gay black men and women about how they are viewed but to heterosexual men and women about how they express themselves?

It's also about our unwillingness to adequately address sexual health issues within our community, with diseases like HIV and AIDS still remaining taboo subjects despite the fact that they disproportionately affect us. Recent research from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention shows that "there were more new HIV infections in young black [gay and bisexual] men aged 13-29 than any other age or racial group".

It's also about the role of the black church, its ability to influence and what it does with that influence.The church has historically blazed a positive trail on civil rights issues affecting the black community, yet on homosexuality they remain either silent of vehemently against it.
Similarly, it's about the black community's willingness - at times - to engage in a head-in-the-sand attitude about certain issues that we feel uncomfortable about. There are a multitude of rumours about black actors, musicians and entertainers who are gay, but there are very few -- if any -- openly gay high profile black people. Those people are not out because homosexuality is still not socially acceptable within the black community, but we all know they are there. With homosexuality, as with some other matters, many of us in the black community seem to operate a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

Regardless of whether or not we agree with it -- I personally do not care who people sleep with or who they marry so long as they are consenting adults -- the fact is that we have brothers and sisters who are gay who require support: emotional, mental and sexual. And supporting them, by constructively engaging with and deconstructing our own prejudices and dealing with some of our own internal conflicts about the issues I've raised above helps the entire black community, in a myriad of ways.

It's not all bad though, apparently. A study by Gregory B Lewis of Georgia State University found that "despite their greater disapproval of homosexuality, blacks' opinions on sodomy laws, gay civil liberties, and employment discrimination are quite similar to whites' opinions, and African Americans are more likely to support laws prohibiting antigay discrimination. Once religious and educational differences are controlled, blacks remain more disapproving of homosexuality but are moderately more supportive of gay civil liberties and markedly more opposed to anti-gay employment discrimination than are whites."

That's all good to some extent. However, there's still plenty of work to be done surrounding the attitudes towards homosexuality within the black community.

It's hard enough being black without the added stress and turmoil that I can imagine comes from being gay within the black community. It's time for us to face up to our issues.
written by Lola Adesioye

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Obama wins election as first African-American President of U.S.



Wednesday, 05 November 2008 13:28

Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States, opening a new chapter in the country's history as the first African-American to hold the world's most important job.

``If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,'' Obama told more than 100,000 people who gathered for a victory celebration in Chicago's Grant Park.

The Illinois senator capped his 21-month quest with a sweeping electoral victory that also enhanced the Democrats' majority in Congress and marked the end of an era of Republican dominance in Washington.

Obama crossed the requisite threshold of 270 electoral votes to defeat Republican rival John McCain last night when television networks projected him winning the state of California. He had at least 338 electoral votes to McCain's 145, according to the Associated Press and television network projections. Six states remained undecided.

His victory, along with his party's gains in congressional contests, puts Democrats in firm control of the federal government for the first time since the early 1990s. That gives Obama an opportunity to turn his victory into a pivotal moment in the country's political history.

McCain's Concession

McCain, speaking to supporters in Phoenix, conceded the race and said he called his rival ``to congratulate him on being elected the next president.''

``Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and his country,'' McCain said. ``This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African- Americans and the special pride that must be theirs tonight.''

McCain pledged to do ``all in my power'' to assist Obama and urged his backers ``to find ways to come together'' for the good of the country.

During their phone conversation, Obama told McCain that he hoped to work with him in the future, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said. Obama told McCain, ``I need your help, you're a leader on so many important issues,'' Gibbs said.

Obama also received a congratulatory call from President George W. Bush, who promising a ``smooth transition,'' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Promising Change

Obama, 47, swept to victory by promising a change in Washington, inspiring millions of new voters and volunteers along the way. He persuaded the electorate that he could best handle the economic crisis facing the country. He raised more money than any presidential candidate in history, overwhelming McCain.

``He wants to be a transforming leader,'' said presidential historian James McGregor Burns in a Bloomberg radio interview. Such a leader, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, ``knows how to proclaim great goals and summons the people to help him realize those goals,'' said Burns, who has written biographies of Roosevelt and other presidents.

Having based his presidential bid on change and using that theme to create a new electoral coalition, Obama must now follow through or risk alienating those supporters, Burns said.

``He has made that so crucial to his campaign: change, change, change,'' Burns said. ``This man cannot escape now the responsibilities of trying to bring it about.''

No Guarantees

And while Obama will have the opportunity to build on his appeal to young Americans and energize their generation, there is no guarantee of success, said Scott Keeter, director of survey research at the Pew Research Center in Washington.
``The problems that George W. Bush has had, especially in his second term, have really hurt the Republican Party's brand,'' Keeter said. ``There's no reason to think that couldn't happen if Obama has problems as well.''

The racial symbolism of Obama's campaign was never far from the surface. He formally declared his candidacy in February 2007 in Springfield, Illinois, evoking the spirit of Abraham Lincoln and his call for the nation to overcome the divisions of slavery. Obama ended his campaign Monday night with a rally in Manassas, Virginia, the site of two Confederate Civil War victories.

At the same time, Obama generally avoided overt discussions of racial issues. The one exception was in March, when revelations of inflammatory remarks by his longtime pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, led him to deliver a lengthy address on the subject.

Break With Past

Obama's victory represents a break with the razor-thin margins in the last two presidential elections.

In 2004, the election was too close to call until the next morning, when Democrat John Kerry conceded after concluding he couldn't surpass Bush's vote total in the decisive state of Ohio, which Obama won tonight. Four years earlier, Bush's victory over Vice President Al Gore was in doubt for more than five weeks while Florida recounted its ballots. The Supreme Court finally halted the recount in December, and Gore capitulated.

Obama comes to the White House promising to pursue universal health-care coverage, alternative sources of energy and middle-class tax cuts. He faces daunting challenges: the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the lingering threat of international terrorism.

Obama will have a Democratic House and Senate behind him after he takes the oath of office on Jan. 20. While not all of the races have been decided, the president-elect's party has clearly made gains in Congress.