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"Deep" Thoughts: Black Men Won't Get Married If Gays Can Because They Will View Marriage As Something Fags Do

By Fannie

You know, I always have to give people props who invent non-religious reasons for opposing marriage equality. Yet, sometimes I think they give arguments that stray from the general Because God Says So ilk too much credit.

After discussing the general Plight of the Modern Day African-American, Heather Macdonald at the Secular Right blog, recently wrote that an "overpowering cause of black social failure is the breakdown of marriage in the black community." How is this observation related to allowing same-sex couples to marry?

Well, among other things:

"It is no secret that resistance to homosexuality is highest among the black population (though probably other ethnic minorities are close contenders). I fear that it will be harder than usual to persuade black men of the obligation to marry the mother of their children if the inevitable media saturation coverage associates marriage with homosexuals."

Here, she engages in that classic conservative game of opportunistically pitting minorities against minorities. Who remembers when Proposition 8 passed in California and how thrilled "marriage defenders" were about how African-American voters supposedly supported Prop 8 in larger proportions than other groups. Although social conservatives rarely address racial justice issues outside of pitting Teh Gays against Teh Blacks, one of their favorite ways to show "concern" for the Black community is by presenting social justice as a zero-sum game where if one minority group "wins," then African-Americans will "lose."

I was happy to observe, however, that MacDonald's argument pretty much got laughed off her own blog. Not only is it racist and asinine to argue that Black men won't get married if the icky homos can, it's profoundly anti-justice to actually suggest that we should kowtow to the alleged greater homophobia of the Black community instead of trying to eradicate it. Only a person perched in the privilege position of White Heterosexual, with no stake in the injustice that either community faces, would suggest such a "solution."

Yep, we better not let gay people marry or the homophobic Black dudes won't want to get married. Deep thoughts.

And ps, I am thrilled that MacDonald is, like some of her white conservative counterparts, oh so concerned about the plight of African-Americans. I am sure she is joining the NAACP, developing a slave reparations proposal, and drafting affirmative-action legislation this very minute!

Full post as published by Fannie's Room on June 01, 2009 (boomark / email).