I would like to welcome you, though I know whole heartedly that you need no welcome, to official sub-class American status. As a member of both the Black and Latino community, I am writing this to avoid a "Prop 8" style minority war. I offer no advice or admonishment. My only real beef with you is a theoretical and friendly one. It is namely where you stand in the pecking order. You are, I have noticed, fond of saying that you have been reduced to "2nd Class" citizen status. I think, however, this is a gross error on your part. "2nd Class" citizen status, in my opinion, is reserved for poor whites and black Republicans. "3rd class" is for the so-called "ideal minorities," traditionally defined Asians (people of Japanese and Chinese heritage) and non-Muslim Central and Western-Asians (India and the Middle East are still Asia after all). I think we may have some consensus up to this point, but it gets really controversial from here on out. "4th class" has largely been constructed, for the moment, for Muslims, who had previously been classified with other Asians. Now, this is where we come in, Blacks and Latinos are either 5th or 6th depending on what you want to argue. Typically marriage inequality is reserved for the lower echelons and I will not argue with you there.
At this point, you are thinking, "is this guy a troll?" Is he a racist? Or some combination of the two.
I don't think I am either, but will, again, not argue with you. Why am I posting this kind of diary? Well, I think this is an excellent opportunity to build bridges and form a coalition. Judging by the response to the "Prop 8" fiasco, we need to start working.
I want you to know one thing. The media is not your friend. They will try to wedge you away from other minority communities, not because they are inherently bigoted and prejudiced, but because they have spent time and money developing models that allow them to predict what you feel about certain issues. For example,back during the election, there was a huge discussion about the "black-brown" divide. Which is to say that the media argued that Latinos in Western States and Latinos in General would not vote for a black man. It turns out "we" voted 2 to 1 for Obama. Funny huh?
Now I'm hearing that "we" the Latino and Black community are substantially homophobic. I don't know. While there is a substantial Christian population in our community, in my experience, this allegation doesn't pass muster. If there's one thing we know, it's discrimination and, mostly, we're against it.
I have marched at my University for marriage equality as fervently as for any other issue, but I admit, upon further introspection, that I have not done as much as I can. I had not, for example, filed a "Marriage Equality concern" at change.gov. I had "lobbied" for Education, Poverty, Affirmative Action, and Immigration Reform with respect to the "D.R.E.A.M. Act" in particular , but not Marriage Equality. Those are my issues.
For these issues, I rally, donate, and what not. If you agree with my positions on these issues, I am thankful for your support and help. Regardless, I will do what I can on your behalf with my family and community.
I figure, if we help each other, and get to know each other, well, at least next time around when we vote we cannot claim "disinformation" and will be forced to examine our position on issues.
In any case, I am sorry if I have ever denigrated your suffering or the suffering of anyone else. I will try to be more sensitive to these issues.
As people who are supposed to be representative of my people in movies say, I got your back.