(ThyBlackMan.com) Since President Obama made his public affirmation of same-sex marriage. The debate within the Christian community and political circles has been non- stop and vigorous. But the black community, especially the black church has been hit repeatedly with massive verbal accusations of intolerance, archaic homophobia and bigotry labels in regards to gay-marriage, from all sides of the spectrum but mostly from the professional black left (professors, politicians, preachers, activist, media pundits).
Think about, it when was the last time we ever saw so many black clergy on all the news cycles?
I’m sure maybe it has something to do with that first black president thing? But who knows; although to Newsweek he is the first Gay President! With a glowing rainbow halo over his head! Man that is… for a lack of a better word “messed up”. But his campaign motto in 08’ was “change”. Although I don’t know if this Newsweek cover was what he had in mind four years ago.
Anyway…
Last year a Washington Post article asked the question; Can Obama hold on to African American voters in 2012? This is a question that is being re-visited in light the Presidents recent unsurprising announcement. To quote Andrew Sullivan’s Newsweek column:
“When you step back a little and assess the record of Obama on gay rights, you see, in fact, that this was not an aberration. It was an inevitable culmination of three years of work.” And President Obama has much in common with the gay community. “He had to discover his black identity and then reconcile it with his white family, just as gays discover their homosexual identity and then have to reconcile it with their heterosexual family,” Sullivan writes.”
Okay number one …; I’m really soooo tired of Gays comparing their gayness to my ethnicity! You notice they never do that with any other ethnic group, like Jewish people, who have suffered horrible tragedies throughout history.
Being gay and being Black are not synonymous!
Number two…Sullivan is right, this announcement should come as no surprise, if you look at his in your face pro-gay polices over the past three years the writing was definitely on the wall.
So why some black clergy were surprised, hurt , felt betrayed, and caught off guard by this; tells me they fell into the “code of blackness” (the support of the prez because he is black; policy) or they were just “public policy ignorant or lazy”. Either way both do a huge disservice to the people they pastor.
Back to the article…it actually displayed the blatantly obvious disdain for dissenting opinions within the black community and that the black professional left (professors, politicians, preachers, activist, media pundits) have little or no room for public dissent or debate on a variety of issues, most notably public policy and politics.
The article cites Tom Joyner telling his listeners to get in line with the president. “Stick together, black people,”
“Let’s not even deal with the facts right now. Let’s deal with just our blackness and pride — and loyalty,” Joyner wrote on his BlackAmericaWeb.com blog. “We have the chance to re-elect the first African-American president, and that’s what we ought to be doing. And I’m not afraid or ashamed to say that as black people, we should do it because he’s a black man.”
He along with Steve Harvey’s message of support for Obama and who called Tavis Smiley and Cornel West “uncle toms” for their critique of the President. As well as Al Sharpton who told the president’s black critics, “I’m not telling you to shut up. I’m telling you: Don’t make some of us have to speak up.”
Then there is the CBC (Congressional Black Caucus) when they are not a some party somewhere! They are in a political schizophrenic flux, because they know that black unemployment is still too high and a recent Washington Post-ABC News polls have shown a drop in the number of blacks who have ”strongly favorable” views of Obama and those who think his policies are improving the economy. This would be a slam dunk if the President were white or a Republican. The members of the CBC would be following the normal liberal playbook about systematic racism in Washington, and how its current policies are having a negative impact having on Black -Americans. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) admitted to this conundrum we he said “If Obama wasn’t president, we would be marching on the White House”.
The fact that these people say things like this to Black people and aren’t challenged; is a travesty an insult, and shows an intellectual disrespect to the people who listen to them.
Fast forward to today, the gay-marriage issue is front and center and the Obama surrogates are telling Black-Americans again, support him anyway!!!. He is still our best hope. Never mind your conscience or traditional beliefs based in biblical teachings; because they are out of touch with mainstream society anyway! When what they really mean is YOU are not in line with what we want to do! Just ignore the history of heterosexual marriage as a foundational pillar that existed even before the church or the state.
The same way Obama’s HHS dept told the Catholic Church a few weeks ago you are going provide birth control for employees weather you want to or not.
And to those who speak up in defense of marriage and what the Bible says about it? Well Michael Eric Dyson has a defined your stance and has a few chose words; You are a Religious Bigot and Sexual Redneck!
His rapid-fire intellectual dishonesty, along with his, I wish I was a gangsta rapper style of verbal bullying is a part of the modus operandi of the Black professional lefts’ goal of demonizing, ridiculing, marginalizing and insulting anyone who doesn’t bow the knee and pay homage their liberal/progressive goals and gods. They expect a piped-piper like allegiance; Regardless of the ineffectiveness of the policies they represent. This is insulting, and leaves Black Americans as a whole with no political power or leverage and keeps in place failed policies and inept leaders that should have been shown the door a long time ago.
The election of the first Black President and his divisive policies has brought to light the rabid intolerance and racism that exists at the core of liberal/progressive ideology and with the professional black left. And how they will devour their own if they get out of line (just ask Bill Cosby).
Now is the time to challenge the Black left establishment. Letting them know; we will not be held captive to your black liberal fascist ideology anymore.
We gave up education, when liberalism asked for it
We gave up arts & entertainment, when progressives asked for it
We gave up the sciences when secularism asked for it
We gave up businesses when the left asked for it.
We gave up government when atheist asked it
We have even given up denominations when liberals asked for it
Now liberals/progressives/secularist/atheist want the crown jewel marriage and family!
Well we are not giving it up, and not only are we not giving it up. We are coming to take everything back that the left stole from us.
this is not even a black and white(race) issue. far from it. if christians are to tell people of the gospel, certain things are to be taught. 1. Jesus died for our sins on the cross. 2. if we do indeed teach this (and yes it is true), then we must teach what the bible says about sin and call sin sin. and no, it is not to say we condemn the sinner, just teach what sin is and how is seperates us from a just and holy God. we are to love all people, after all, all men have fallen and come short of the grace of God. 3. homosexuality is sin just like another sin and seperates us from God. 4. if you call yourself a christian, we must stand where the bible stands (be the light in a dark world, be the salt in a tasteless world). God’s word indeed calls homosexuality a sin (romans 1). 5. to publicly call yourself a baptist minister and align yourself with what the bible does not teach, is at best questionable.
Wattree,
Your last comment is very informative. Is it possible to have your sources? Please, share with us the links where you found these valuable information. Thanks in advance for your collaboration.
Laughable! This is my last response to your FOOLISHNESS.
You’re referring to Obama’s so-called budget put forth after 3 1/2 years in office that the Democratic controlled senate voted down 99-0. Not even one senator “Democratic or Republican” supported Obama’s shenanigan for political expediency.
Time has come to pass and Obama has proven that he’s not a leader. For the first 2 years in office Obama had a democratic controlled Congress and political capital to pass any of his Initiatives. You should start researching your horse in the race instead of mouthing off at things you appear to know nothing about.
Trojan Horse,
So you ARE suggesting that Black people “use their feet” and vote Republican. You know what pimps your hand? People like you are always talking about what Obama is failing to do, but you NEVER talk about what the Republicans are doing. Why not? And another thing – don’t you know enough about how government works to know that it is CONGRESS that controls spending? Obama can’t do ANYTHING for us that CONGRESS doesn’t vote to approve.
So we’re dealing with one of two issues – either you’re too dumb to know what you’re talking about, or you know how things work but you’re trying to delude the Black community. Which is it? And another thing, why are you hiding behind a screen name? Who are you? I like to know who I’m calling a fool.
And finally:
Obama Initiatives
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– Spur Job Creation: “In addition, to help those most affected by the recession, the Budget will extend emergency assistance to seniors and families with children, Unemployment Insurance benefits, COBRA tax credits, and relief to states and localities to prevent layoffs.”
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– Reforming the Job Training System: “The Budget calls for reform of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which supports almost 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers nationwide and a range of other services. With $6 billion for WIA at DOL—and an additional $4 billion in the Department of Education—the Budget calls for reforms to improve WIA.” Strengthen Anti-Discrimination Enforcement: “To strengthen civil rights enforcement against racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, religious, and gender discrimination, the Budget includes an 11 percent increase in funding to the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. This investment will help the Division handle implementation of a historic new hate crimes law. The Budget also provides an $18 million, or 5 percent increase, for the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC), which is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee. This increased investment will allow for more staff to reduce the backlog of private sector charges.”
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– Support Historically Black Colleges and Universities: “The Budget proposes $642 million, an increase of $30 million over the 2010 level, to support Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), including Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In addition to this discretionary funding increase for MSIs, the Administration supports legislation passed by the House of Representatives and pending in the Senate that would provide $2.55 billion in mandatory funding to MSIs over 10 years.”
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– Help Families Struggling with Child Care Costs: “The Budget will nearly double the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit for middle-class families making under $85,000 a year by increasing their credit rate from 20 percent to 35 percent of child care expenses. Nearly all eligible families making under $115,000 a year would see a larger credit. The Budget also provides critical support for young children and their families by building on historic increases provided in ARRA. The Budget provides an additional $989 million for Head Start and Early Head Start to continue to serve 64,000 additional children and families funded in ARRA.”
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– Reform Elementary and Secondary School Funding: “The Budget supports the Administration’s new vision for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) … The Budget provides a $3 billion increase in funding for K-12 education programs authorized in the ESEA, including $900 million for School Turnaround Grants, and the Administration will request up to $1 billion in additional funding if Congress successfully completes ESEA reauthorization.”
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– Increase Pell Grants: “The Recovery Act and 2009 appropriations bill increased the maximum Pell Grant by more than $600 for a total award of $5,350. The Budget proposes to make that increase permanent and put them on a path to grow faster than inflation every year, increasing the maximum grant by $1,000, expanding eligibility, and nearly doubling the total amount of Pell grants since the President took office.”
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– Help Relieve Student Loan Debt: “To help graduates overburdened with student loan debt, the Administration will strengthen income-based repayment plans for student loans by reducing monthly payments and shortening the repayment period so that overburdened borrowers will pay only 10 percent of their discretionary income in loan repayments and can have their remaining debt forgiven after 20 years. Those in public service careers will have their debt forgiven after 10 years. The Budget also expands low-cost Perkins student loans.”
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– Prevent Hunger and Improve Nutrition: “The President’s Budget provides $8.1 billion for discretionary nutrition program supports, which is a $400 million increase over the 2010 enacted level. Funding supports 10 million participants in the WIC program, which is critical to the health of pregnant women, new mothers, and their infants. The Budget also supports a strong Child Nutrition and WIC reauthorization package that will ensure that school children have access to healthy meals and to help fulfill the President’s pledge to end childhood hunger. The President continues to support the nutrition provisions incorporated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).”
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– Revitalize Distressed Urban Neighborhoods: “The Budget includes $250 million for HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods program, which will target neighborhoods anchored by distressed public or assisted housing with physical and social revitalization grounded in promising, measurable, and evidence-based strategies.”
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– Increase Funding for the Housing Choice Voucher Program: “The President’s Budget requests $19.6 billion for the Housing Choice Voucher program to help more than two million extremely low income families with rental assistance to live in decent housing in neighborhoods of their choice. The Budget continues funding for all existing mainstream vouchers and provides flexibility to support new vouchers that were leased and $85 million in special purpose vouchers for homeless families with children, families at risk of homelessness, and persons with disabilities.”
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– Preserve 1.3 Million Affordable Rental Units through Project-Based Rental Assistance Program: “The President’s Budget provides $9.4 billion for the Project-Based Rental Assistance program to preserve approximately 1.3 million affordable rental units through increased funding for contracts with private owners of multifamily properties. This critical investment will help low-income households to obtain or retain decent, safe and sanitary housing. In addition, the Administration requests $350 million to fund the first phase of this multi-year initiative to regionalize the Housing Choice Voucher program and convert Public Housing to project-based vouchers.”
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– Promote Affordable Homeownership and Protect Families from Mortgage Fraud: “The Budget requests $88 million for HUD to support homeownership and foreclosure prevention through Housing Counseling and $20 million to combat mortgage fraud. In addition, the Budget requests $250 million for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation’s (NRC) grant and training programs. Of the $250 million, $113 million is requested for foreclosure prevention activities, a $48 million increase (74 percent) over 2010.”
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– Fight Gang Violence and Violent Crime: “The Budget provides $112 million for place-based, evidence supported, initiatives to combat violence in local communities, including $25 million for the Community-Based Violence Prevention Initiatives that aim to reduce gun and other violence among youth gangs in cities and towns across the country, and $37 million for the Attorney General’s Children Exposed to Violence Initiative, which targets the youth most affected by violence and most susceptible to propagating it as they grow up.”
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– Expand Prisoner Re-entry Programs: “The Budget provides $144 million for Department Justice prisoner re-entry programs, including an additional $100 million for the Office of Justice Programs to administer grant programs authorized by the Second Chance Act and $30 million for residential substance abuse treatment programs in State and local prisons and jails. In addition, the Budget provides $98 million for Department of Labor programs that provide employment-centered services to adult and youth ex-offenders and at-risk youth..”
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– Fully Fund the Community Development Block Grant Program: “The Budget provides $4.4 billion for the Community Development Fund, including $3.99 billion for the Community Development Block Grant Formula Program (CDBG), and $150 million for the creation of a Catalytic Investment Competition Grants program. The new Catalytic Competition Grants program uses the authorities of CDBG, but will provide capital to bring innovative economic development projects to scale to make a measurable impact.”
Yes, It’s quite telling that OBAMA keeps kicking us in the gut and we just keep following him like the youtube video where a little boy was constantly kicked to the ground by his mother’s boyfriend and all he could do was keep getting up and following his mother’s boyfriend because he had no CHOICE. However, we are not children so stop behaving as such and start using our brains and feet.
Trojan Horse,
The Black community, and indeed, America its fighting for its very existence, and you’re asked a very simple, but serious, question and your response is to start quoting Dr. Seuss, a creator of childrens’ books. Why don’t you throw in a few quotes from Mother Goose as well?
But actually, your response is tellingly appropriate, because you talking to the Black community like we’re children.
Hmmmmm, you see? Once you cut away the camouflage and ask this Trojan Horse the direct question, “If we don’t vote for Obama, who do you suggest that the Black community vote for?” It pulls him out of the closet, so he goes quite. He knows he’s a Republican, and his primary agenda is to divide the Black vote.
White folks have experience with people like this, and know how destructive to the people they can be. That’s why they have laws against treason. Look at the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX69a45LFLI
Just as Dr. Seuss suggested “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”
As quiet as it’s kept, Johnson did more to advance our community but thanks to the Corporate Media “Kennedy” is our beloved!
Trojan Horse,
Let’s cut away all of the camouflage and get to the bottom line. If not Obama, who do you suggest the Black community vote for? Come on out with it.
“Now liberals/progressives/secularist/atheist want the crown jewel marriage and family!”
Are you saying that all liberals/progressives/secularists/atheists are homosexuals or you are simply being vindictive?! Why is it so important to you whether gays and lesbians “want the crown jewel”? How does this affect your life (your religious beliefs and your right to marry a woman won’t be outlawed) or the economy and security of the country? Vote for what matters to your life and the well-being of your family – check out the countries where same sex marriages are legal…it doesn’t affect heterosexuals or these nations in any way of form. As someone said, if your religion forbids same sex marriage, don’t marry someone from your sex. Besides, there are many biblical laws or traditions that have been scraped off from our culture and laws (treatment of women comes to mind) because they were outdated and are unfair/discriminatory.
“Just ignore the history of heterosexual marriage as a foundational pillar that existed even before the church or the state”.
Wrong! Heterosexual marriage under the law is a pretty new concept but even if it existed “before the church or state”, does that mean, it can’t be changed, improved, made to be more inclusive…say like..the legal status of women and black people throughout the history of the West?
I would vote for Obama, not because he’s black but because he has better policies concerning the health and well-being of women than the opposition so as a black woman, this issue is relevant enough to affect my decision!
He should have been a gay before he contested as Mr. President and see if the masses would have vote for him.For Gods sake people who are in this situation may not have loved it but through influence.We still fighting against prostitution and children trafficking.please mr.president be conscious of the fact that no religion,tribe,nor culture has in the history supported this.please revert this bill.
Obama should have done this move after his reelection. I hope that it will not cost him his second mandate. The future will give us the answer. In addition, I hope that he will support more the Black community and give us for instance our first Black female Judge in the Supreme Court. It never happened in North America and it is totally unacceptable!!! When I think about what Black women went through historically in America it makes me sick that none of us ended up in the Supreme Court. I am a jurist, so this issue is very important to me. Only 0.8% Black women in North America have a law degree!!! It is not because we are not intelligent, it is because the system is corrupted and they want to preserve the status quo.
Obama should have done this move after his reelection. I hope that it will not cost him his second mandate. The future will give us the answer. In addition, I hope that he will support more the Black community and give us for instance our first Black female Judge in the Supreme Court. It never happened in North America and it is totally unacceptable!!! When I think about what Black women went through historically in America it makes me sick that none of us ended up in the Supreme Court. I am a jurist, so this issue is very important to me. Only 0.8% Black women in North America has a law degree!!! It is not because we are not intelligent, it is because the system is corrupted and they want to preserve the status quo.
Same sex marriages do not affect my life one bite. Policies being pass that will affect my civil liberties does. Were was the out cry when Obama singed the NDAA. I find it funny we will get upset over what Obama thinks then what is being pass into law. So while the democrats and republicans continue to rock us back and forth as Obama sing us sweet melodies of nothingness we have been put to sleep on real issues.
This election is very much so about Obama and HIS failed policies from not creating jobs so more people can work and contribute to Social Security to cutting Medicare by $500 million to give to Obamacare so BIG unions can keep their Cadillac Plans to striking down the D.C. voucher program that allowed inner city kids to seek education elsewhere when the public school system has failed them to telling Blacks to shut up, stop whining and put on their bedroom slippers to march for HIM and just maybe CHANGE wil emerge through trickle down economics.
This writer is obviously a conservative who’s trying to divide the Black vote. The coming election has absolutely nothing to do with Barack Obama, or the Democratic Party. The coming election is about keeping fascists out of office. Period.
The Republicans are talking about cutting SocialSecurity, Medicare, education, and they every trying to reverse the Voter’s Rights Act that Martin Luther King and many others gave their life for. Yet, this is essentially saying, “Hey everybody! I’ve got an idea! Let’s cut our throats to teach Obama a lesson.”
This guy is either out of his mind, or think the Black community is stupid. He’s a Trojan horse, just like Herman Cain. Or in other words, “A brother from another mother.”
Excellent Article. I stopped watching Bill O’Reilly a while ago. However, for some strange reason I watched the show last night and just as this article suggests, there were two Black Pastors on stating their unwavering support for Obama despite his support for SAME-SEX Marriage.
This whole thing wreaks of a modern day NOAH’s Ark!
DAMN SHAME!!! THEY FINALLY GOT HIM,WELL TIME FOR ANOTHER CHANGE. BIBLE (TRUE) SHOULD B MAD AS HELL AND SHOW RESPECT TO YOUR GOD AND DONT VOTE FOR (OBAMA) MAN