We Should Know Better

The time was 1964 when Lyndon Johnson signed into law the historic Civil Rights Act that would forever change the political and social dynamics in this country. Johnson's political courage finally gave African Americans, who struggled for generations, the same rights and opportunities to live out their American Dream just like the rest of the population. As a result of President Johnson signing that act the Democratic Party lost the majority of the southern vote for decades to come. One of the last forms of legal segregation, anti-miscegenation laws, were not fully lifted until the Supreme Court ruling in 1967 that allowed interracial marriage full recognition under the law. On Tuesday, America finally broke through one barrier by electing Barack Obama as President-Elect of the United States, but failed miserably on another. In California an estimated 60%-70% of African Americans voted for a ban that would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. It is unfair to blame the passage of Proposition 8 solely on the African American vote because they make up a small percentage of the voting electorate, but it is fair to say that we all people should know better. 

On January 20th of this year at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as pastor, Senator Barack Obama talked about homophobia, anti-Semitism and xenophobia in the black community. In his call for unity he said, "True unity cannot be so easily won. It starts with a change in attitudes - a broadening of our minds, and a broadening of our hearts... And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community. We have scorned our gay brothers and sister instead of embracing them."

While the black experience in this country has been a struggle for basic rights and liberties to now President of the United States, it is important to remember that we have not shouldered that burden alone. Americans of every ethnic group, religion, and yes, sexual orientation stood and marched with us on our journey for equality. Maybe it is time that we took a long look in the mirror and followed our President's and Dr. King's call for a more perfect union and stand up for the rights of others that were once denied to us.