Blacks Tipped the scale for California's Gay Marriage Ban

An article from Minority Reporter in Rochester. Check out: http://www.minorityreporter.net/web_edition/November_15_2008/November_15_2008.pdf <!--break--> The painful truth is that Proposition 8 would have gone down to flaming defeat if blacks hadn't backed it in droves. Proposition 8 was the ballot initiative that defines marriage as strictly between a man and a woman and embeds that in the California state constitution. Just one month before the election most polls showed that a majority of Californians rejected the measure. But then something happened. A slew of Yes on 8 signs and stickers popped up overnight on lawns in my neighborhood in the predominantly black Crenshaw area near South Los Angeles. The week before that a well-heeled core of preachers who head fundamentalist leaning, mega and medium sized black churches held a rally and then took to their pulpits and bible thumped their congregations to pass the initiative. It worked. Associated Press exit polls found that seven in 10 blacks voted in favor of the proposition, while Latinos marginally supported it and whites were split. The cruel irony is that the holy passion that propelled black voters to storm the polls in near record numbers to vote for Barack Obama tipped the scales in favor of Proposition 8. That wasn't the only Obama irony. Prop 8 backers flooded mailboxes in mostly black neighborhoods with a mailer that featured a stern faced Obama and his horribly out of context quote saying that he opposed gay marriage. Whether the preachers got a generous infusion of cash for their services touting Proposition 8 is anybody's guess. The money trail in these shadowy campaigns is always hard if not impossible to track down. But even if a penny didn't change hands between the Prop 8 campaign and the ministers it wouldn't have changed things. The preachers would still have scripture saber rattled Prop 8. Even if the ministers hadn't said a mumbling word one way or the other about gay marriage, a significant number maybe even the majority of blacks would still have voted for it.

<p>An article from Minority Reporter in Rochester.</p> <p>Check out: <a href="http://www.minorityreporter.net/web_edition/November_15_2008/November_15_2008.pdf">http://www.minorityreporter.net/web_edition/November_15_2008/November_15...</a></p> <!--break--><p>The painful truth is that Proposition 8<br /> would have gone down to flaming<br /> defeat if blacks hadn't backed it in<br /> droves. Proposition 8 was the ballot initiative<br /> that defines marriage as strictly<br /> between a man and a woman and<br /> embeds that in the California state constitution.</p> <p>Just one month before the election most<br /> polls showed that a majority of<br /> Californians rejected the measure. But<br /> then something happened. A slew of Yes<br /> on 8 signs and stickers popped up<br /> overnight on lawns in my neighborhood<br /> in the predominantly black Crenshaw<br /> area near South Los Angeles. The week<br /> before that a well-heeled core of preachers<br /> who head fundamentalist leaning,<br /> mega and medium sized black churches<br /> held a rally and then took to their pulpits<br /> and bible thumped their congregations<br /> to pass the initiative. It worked.<br /> Associated Press exit polls found that<br /> seven in 10 blacks voted in favor of the<br /> proposition, while Latinos marginally<br /> supported it and whites were split.</p> <p>The cruel irony is that the holy passion<br /> that propelled black voters to storm the<br /> polls in near record numbers to vote for<br /> Barack Obama tipped the scales in favor<br /> of Proposition 8. That wasn't the only<br /> Obama irony. Prop 8 backers flooded<br /> mailboxes in mostly black neighborhoods<br /> with a mailer that featured a stern<br /> faced Obama and his horribly out of context<br /> quote saying that he opposed gay<br /> marriage.</p> <p>Whether the preachers got a generous<br /> infusion of cash for their services touting<br /> Proposition 8 is anybody's guess. The<br /> money trail in these shadowy campaigns<br /> is always hard if not impossible to track<br /> down. But even if a penny didn't change<br /> hands between the Prop 8 campaign<br /> and the ministers it wouldn't have<br /> changed things. The preachers would<br /> still have scripture saber rattled Prop 8.<br /> Even if the ministers hadn't said a mumbling<br /> word one way or the other about<br /> gay marriage, a significant number<br /> maybe even the majority of blacks would<br /> still have voted for it.</p>