There is an ugly truth about Tuesday that I just haven't been able to get out of my head these last 2 days.
As excited as I am about Obama's win - our win! - and as great as that makes me feel, I was surprised to have found myself falling asleep around 4am Wednesday morning and then dreaming not about Obama being our next president, but about Proposition 8 in California instead.
We've been seeing plenty of news coverage and attention being paid to what a tremendous civil rights milestone Obama's election is. There's no denying that is the case. And I was tremendously moved - even to tears - seeing video and photos of people crying when he was declared the winner. Jesse Jackson. Martin Luther King Jr's sister. Countless other African-Americans for whom Tuesday was such a profound emotional and spiritual experience. It does mean so much to so many that, as sad as this country's history is when it comes to race relations and racism, so much was accomplished on Tuesday and Barack Obama was elected our next President.
But we know something else as a result of this election, as well. We know that high African-American turnout may have played a big part in hurting the cause of gay rights on Tuesday. African-Americans in CA and FL voted overwhelmingly in favor of eliminating gay marriage, prohibiting it, and even denying those in civil unions and domestic partnerships rights (in FL). In CA, African-Americans supported Proposition 8 to a degree far in excess of whites, asians, or latinos.
African-Americans - 70% YES on Prop 8, 30% NO on Prop 8
Similar numbers can be seen in FL, where high African-American turnout no doubt helped Obama but surely also helped Amendment 2 pass.
African-Americans - 71% YES on Amendment 2, 29% NO on Amendment 2
Again, support of an anti-gay measure among African-Americans was above and beyond what was seen among any other racial group.
While I was so moved on Tuesday night when seeing African-Americans across the country crying tears of joy and clearly overcome with wonderful emotions by Obama's winning, on Wednesday and Thursday I found myself wondering how many of those same people seen in footage shot in CA or that I myself saw here in FL voted against equal rights for homosexuals? I found myself staring at the television set, so moved and happy for the African-Americans I was seeing crying and overcome with emotion, yet at the same time wondering if that very same person had voted in favor of discrimination towards homosexuals only hours before.
I'm having trouble coming to terms with that or being able to understand it. I'm having a difficult time understanding just how someone can recognize what a tremendous achievement the presidential election Tuesday, Nov 4 was for equality, tolerance and civil rights for African-Americans while at the same time willfully denying equality and civil rights and expressing a clear intolerance towards another group. I can't quite grasp how so many African-Americans didn't see parallels in their own struggle and history with what homosexuals are going through today. At the very least, I couldn't understand how so many African-Americans couldn't recognize the same kind of intolerance and prejudice that kept them segregated as second class citizens for so long being directed towards homosexuals today. Of all people, you'd hope that those who had battled intolerance for so long and then finally saw an opportunity to defeat it and send out a clear message that we are a new nation would understand that.
November 4th was a wonderful day for African-Americans and Americans as a whole. But I can't help but think that there are a great many people who were so thrilled and elated at what took place on that day in terms of the presidential election who still need to do some soul-searching when it comes to fully appreciating just what fairness and equality means. For all people.
I want to be able to be fully happy and thrilled at what took place on Nov 4. I've been hoping and praying for an Obama victory for what seems like ages now. But I feel like I just can't fully celebrate and can't be as happy as I thought I might be on a Nov 5th after an Obama victory because of what happened with Prop 8 and Amendment 2. I almost feel like I've been cheated out of the elation I should feel, more depressed since Election Day than I should be.
I know that, one day, gays and lesbians will finally be treated as equals. I know that one day, institutionalized and legal intolerance, prejudice, and discrimination against gays will disappear. But I sure wish it was 2 days ago. I sure wish that African-Americans were allies, today, in helping that day come. Rather than obstacles to it.