In the Houston Chronicle today, an article is headlined:
Gay marriage ban crossed political lines, analysts say. Even in the depression left by Tuesday's vote, I can recognize this claim challenges a typical explanation, which I had bought, of the outcome that appeals to white Republican prejudice. Blacks and Hispanics heavily supported the bill, the article says. The article is at:
http://www.chron.com
More below:
It's true that some of the democratic vote was due to Gov. Perry's "working the churches." But Blacks and Hispanics are not passive slates on which Republicans can write their ideology. So what happened?
One possible explanation that floats around some feminist management work is that threatened minorities (race or gender or ethnicity) can become dependent on following the rules. Another is that gay rights simply hasn't been thought through in these communities. I really don't know.
I'm off to start the day, so I won't be able to respond for some time. I'd appreciate seeing what others think. Here's a sample of what the article says:
...religion and family values resonate in traditionally Democratic precincts with large minority populations.
On the single issue of defining marriage as between a man and a woman, minorities often voted as favorably and sometimes more favorably than higher-income Republican precincts, said political scientist Tim O'Neill at Southwestern University in Georgetown.
"They don't see it as much as a civil rights issue as they see it as a right of traditional marriage issue," he said. "African-Americans are by far the strongest supporters of the Democratic Party, but not on this issue. This is not a Republican/Democratic issue per se."
It seems pretty simplistic just to say that this isn't a Republican/Democratic issue. Why hasn't it made it into the Democratic agenda in these communities?