As the D.C. government prepares to legalize same-sex marriage, some supporters fret that the issue could divide the city along racial lines. It probably won’t happen, because gay rights activists in the District have built a potent, biracial political bloc that seems set to drive the bill to passage easily in coming months. The real threat to same-sex marriage here will be conservatives in Congress trying to meddle in what should be a matter for the District to decide on its own.
Nevertheless, it’s an intriguing fact, acknowledged by both sides, that blacks in the District overall oppose same-sex marriage while whites support it. Why is that so? And should African Americans, who battled so long for civil rights for themselves, be natural allies of gay people seeking such rights today? The answers cast light on the intersection of racial , gender and class politics in the city.
The issue is sure to attract lots of attention in our region and beyond. The District is poised to become the first jurisdiction south of the Mason-Dixon line to allow same-sex marriage. Approval would accelerate efforts to legalize it in Maryland as well.
It’s perversely amusing how obtuse “progressives” are about equating race and behavior under the rubric of “rights.” The correlation between education and acceptance of gay “marriage” is made out to be an issue of enlightenment versus ignorance, when it’s really inculcated blindness versus an ability to think clearly about the obvious. If human beings have moral agency, then human behavior really is the proper object of moral inquiry.
Sorry Mr McCartney. This is a no brainier. Urban areas have higher demographic percentages of blacks, and especially in the North. Urban areas have disproportionate high numbers of urban white post moderns and progressives. Those whites still don’t reflect the views of the suburbs, rural areas and the country as a whole. As for how better educated the urban whites are, being disconnected from their Judaeo- Christian heritage, in my book, shows their lack of education.
“progressives†[snip] equating race and behavior under the rubric of “rights.â€
I was going to say they this much more poorly: They are condemning black people for holding onto morality while claiming it’s an issue of rights. I still don’t understand the comparison of being discriminated against for race – which is totally beyond one’s control. You can’t just stop being black or white or red, you can’t choose *not* to express this aspect of yourself – to discrimination against behaviour, which is a moral issue.
“Nevertheless, it’s an intriguing fact, acknowledged by both sides, that blacks in the District overall oppose same-sex marriage while whites support it. Why is that so?”
Hmm — could it possibly be (at least in part) the influence of black churches, which, on the whole, are more conservative theologically than the former main line churches?
Franz….not even that….the writer makes an assertion re whites which is not true
[blockquote] The real threat to same-sex marriage here will be conservatives in Congress trying to meddle in what [i]should be a matter for the District to decide on its own. [/i] [/blockquote]
This is precisely what conservatives have been asking – to allow the D.C. to decide in the most American fashion – by voting. But this is precisely what the liberals don’t want to allow.
One sees why people like Joe Wilson shout out, “You’re a liar.”
[Crudely expressed comment deleted by Elf]
Well, let’s try again. It is possible that the issue is much simpler, and that race, qua race, has little to do with this issue? T hat this is a cultural matter, not a racial matter? That,fifty years ago, the same distinction would have been apparent in upscale Cambridge, Mass and Southy in Boston?
Larry