November 17, 2008

The Blame Game

Posted by Mervyn Marcano at 4:45PM

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(This post originally appeared on Mervyn's blog)

I poured myself a glass of rum and coke, on the rocks. The networks hadn't called it, but i did. When Pennsylvania and Ohio went, I thought, “it's over.” I looked across the room, filled with black folks that I loved, everyone waiting. Waiting to suspend the disbelief that hung over the room that evening. We were a jaded crew -- organizers, communications staff, writers. Born and raised of military families, black panthers, royalty, and southern decadence.

Then the networks finally called the presidency for Obama. We rocketed from our seats, cheering and hugging, some were crying. you could feel the energy in the room, expended from years of working so hard. We were tired and re-energized, weary but triumphant.

The next day, the world hadn't changed all that much. California’s Proposition 8 passed into law, effectively banning gay marriage. White gay men were up in arms, blaming black folks for the stinging loss. Unfortunately, Black voters voted overwhelmingly in favor of the ban. I struggle with the level of racist vitriol that comes from those folks. They are in many ways like my father, a liberal white gay man. I want to be mad, but all I can do is laugh it off. This time, though, I have to speak up.

While many groups voted for the passage of Proposition 8, black folks are being singled out for not caring about civil rights during such an historic moment. The irony is thick, but I’m used to it. It was, as the president-elect would say, more of the same. And here's why.

The gay advocacy groups have not built up a ground game in black communities. No field offices, big rallies, nothing. Plenty in San Francisco and in West Hollywood. But when I drove in East Oakland, they were absent.

They chose instead to run ads toward the end of the campaign, when they knew they were losing, highlighting key moments in the civil rights movement. They hired Samuel L. “Snakes On A Plane” Jackson to narrate these pithy ads. Those ads did nothing but beat the civil rights movement into black folks' heads, as if they didn't know what it stood for. As if their parents hadn't fought it. In short, they were incredibly patronizing.

Advertisements with good messaging targeting black folks were done independently, often by black folks who didn’t have the resources to run them widely. So while my white gay brothers and sisters were quick to blame the black community as a critical outpost, they didn't think it prudent from the beginning to fund their black gay comrades to organize their own.

On the other hand, Yes on 8 campaigners had an excellent presence in black communities. They lied left and right, telling pastors they'd be forced to perform gay marriages. And they passed out fliers with Obama's image, with a quote: “I don't support gay marriage”. They were in South Central, East Oakland, Compton- and they were there early. They were at church, in line at the market, and on the roads. In short, it was brilliant. They convinced voters who voted for change to vote for more of the same simultaneously.

But this storm has been coming, long before any of the white gay establishment bothered to pay attention. The right's takeover of black churches and institutions was viewed as an interesting article of news maybe, but nothing to be seriously concerned with.

Until we lost our right to get hitched.

If the movement for full gay inclusion is going to be successful, gay advocates cannot afford to sit on the sidelines on issues that matter to black folks. You can't ignore the black community, and then call them a failure when you realize we're critical to full inclusion. I'm not talking about patting backs here. When black gay men and women are consistently murdered, where is the white gay community? When black gay folks are targeted by police officers, where is the white gay community? When funding for HIV/AIDS services dries up in black communities (not talking about AMFAR research here, folks), where are the white gays?

Our own big, fabulous, gay house is burning and you're surprised that black families aren't on board? I haven't even gotten into the plethora of issues that affect the larger black community. We're talking foreclosures, unemployment, the drug war (not just your neighbor's meth habit), sexual assault, human trafficking. Yeah, it's deep. But if you want to win, you gotta get into it.

I always say, when the CEO of Nike can't sell a horrible sneaker, he doesn't get on a shareholder call and complain about dumb consumers. He makes a better product. We, my fabulous brothers and sisters, need to build a better movement.

The failure here was not of black voters to wake up and respect your gaylandia. It was in the organizing strategy (or lack thereof) on behalf of the No on 8 campaign to build bridges and help everyone see us as people who matter. That's not going to happen over the course of a few months, folks. People vote against their own interest all the time, so to expect them to vote in the interests of others without taking the time to really build alliances is sorely misguided.

The morning after the historic presidential election, black folks were still in the same box. Pathologically desired by many, but greatly maligned by those same folks. That's the lesson for me. Our wins were magnificent on November 4, but we still have a great distance to go. We have to build a better movement for justice, if we are to achieve real victory, in tangible means that touch peoples lives.

I want to get married just as much as the next gay. But, hunny, the arc of history is long. like Dr. King, I'm more interested in bending it toward justice. How about you?