While traveling to the airport the other day, I was listening to one of our local urban stations. A new comedian was in town and like always he was making the rounds at local radio stations to give people a taste of what to expect at his upcoming show. There was the usual shout out to all the lovely ladies in the city, cracks about a couple of current events, but then the brutha started talking about the large amount of gays in the city. It was at that point the morning crew noticeably froze up and proceeded to shut him down. “You betta watch what you say about them, cuz they (gays) will show up to the club and knock you out!”, said one host. The other host who normally isn’t at a loss for words basically gave the floor to the other host while only contributing the occasional nervous giggle every now and then. This comedian eventually got the message and ended that segment by saying “I love all gay people!” Dude got punked down.
On the political front, “racism” apparently can be found under every tree, rock and anywhere else if you look hard enough. Companies that have been existence since the founding of this country have been threatened by lawsuits, called out by both politicians and activists for their ties to the African slave trade here in this country. Many large companies have also been both accused and penalized for discriminatory practices. Politicians and political pundits are regularly skewered for speech that could remotely be perceived as a strain of racism–when it is politically expedient. But mention the racist history behind “family planning” (a major political issue) in this country and the vast majority of racism hunters on the political battlefield are suddenly out of ammo.
In poll after poll, Black Americans strongly oppose issues like gay marriage, the gay lifestyle in general and abortion. This is largely based on our deep roots in the church. But beyond all the polling data, in my experience you will find there is a lot of timidity when dealing with these issues–especially when you compare it to our aggressive response when dealing with alleged racism. All of a sudden, we are to flip the scrip and embrace “tolerance”.
On the gay front, as long as gays do not compare their “struggles” to that of Black Americans they are pretty much safe from most criticism. But I have noticed over the years that if one were to carry the biblical view of homosexuality into the public square, very few in the Black community are willing to back this individual(s). Let alone let other know that they, too agree with him. If much of the Black community is rooted in the church, the church is rooted in the Bible, and the Bible is clear on the issue of homosexuality, why all the timidness when dealing with this issue in the public square? Are followers of Christ charged to follow his example and love those who do not know him? Yes. But in love also comes truth. We certainly don’t hold back on other social issues and will gladly use the Bible to support our cause.
The other day I did a post on how many of the leaders in the Black civil rights movement actually knew the true racist history behind “family planning” in this country and called it out for what it was: self-genocide. Blacks, Native Americans, Puerto Ricans, mentally-challenged, etc. were specifically targeted for forced sterilizations well into the 1970′s in this country. Middle class Whites on the other hand were never encouraged by our government to “plan” their families by reducing their number. The lives of untold millions of children have been snuffed out (with a good percentage of them being Black) courtesy of our government and a naive public who have bought the whole line that this is simply a “women’s rights” issue. In a previous post, I tried to put in perspective the social, economic and political impact of reducing our numbers. Once again, I have noticed that Blacks who take a stance on this issue condemning abortion in the public square are typically left without the support of those who also claim to share their beliefs. What they are typically met with are a bunch of nitpickers who will find anything to comfortably distance themselves from the same belief that was widely embraced by both the Black civil rights movement and the Black power movement of the 1960′s and 70′s. I believe this is deeply rooted in the fact that in today’s world, since the pro-life movement is largely led by White conservatives, Blacks (who on most social issues tend to lean left) are uncomfortable sharing that platform. This can be seen in other issues as well.
On both of these issues, this post is not a call for people to take to the streets in protest or block the doors of abortion clinics. But just as in the case of Amadou “Ahmed” Diallo, Jena 6, James Byrd, Brandon McClelland, Shaquanda Cotton and others, there is no limit to what people who are moved by conviction are willing to do.
The active word here is “conviction“.
Sphere: Related Content
Shhhhhhhh
by Duane on August 25th, 2009 at 8:35 amWhile traveling to the airport the other day, I was listening to one of our local urban stations. A new comedian was in town and like always he was making the rounds at local radio stations to give people a taste of what to expect at his upcoming show. There was the usual shout out to all the lovely ladies in the city, cracks about a couple of current events, but then the brutha started talking about the large amount of gays in the city. It was at that point the morning crew noticeably froze up and proceeded to shut him down. “You betta watch what you say about them, cuz they (gays) will show up to the club and knock you out!”, said one host. The other host who normally isn’t at a loss for words basically gave the floor to the other host while only contributing the occasional nervous giggle every now and then. This comedian eventually got the message and ended that segment by saying “I love all gay people!” Dude got punked down.
On the political front, “racism” apparently can be found under every tree, rock and anywhere else if you look hard enough. Companies that have been existence since the founding of this country have been threatened by lawsuits, called out by both politicians and activists for their ties to the African slave trade here in this country. Many large companies have also been both accused and penalized for discriminatory practices. Politicians and political pundits are regularly skewered for speech that could remotely be perceived as a strain of racism–when it is politically expedient. But mention the racist history behind “family planning” (a major political issue) in this country and the vast majority of racism hunters on the political battlefield are suddenly out of ammo.
In poll after poll, Black Americans strongly oppose issues like gay marriage, the gay lifestyle in general and abortion. This is largely based on our deep roots in the church. But beyond all the polling data, in my experience you will find there is a lot of timidity when dealing with these issues–especially when you compare it to our aggressive response when dealing with alleged racism. All of a sudden, we are to flip the scrip and embrace “tolerance”.
On the gay front, as long as gays do not compare their “struggles” to that of Black Americans they are pretty much safe from most criticism. But I have noticed over the years that if one were to carry the biblical view of homosexuality into the public square, very few in the Black community are willing to back this individual(s). Let alone let other know that they, too agree with him. If much of the Black community is rooted in the church, the church is rooted in the Bible, and the Bible is clear on the issue of homosexuality, why all the timidness when dealing with this issue in the public square? Are followers of Christ charged to follow his example and love those who do not know him? Yes. But in love also comes truth. We certainly don’t hold back on other social issues and will gladly use the Bible to support our cause.
The other day I did a post on how many of the leaders in the Black civil rights movement actually knew the true racist history behind “family planning” in this country and called it out for what it was: self-genocide. Blacks, Native Americans, Puerto Ricans, mentally-challenged, etc. were specifically targeted for forced sterilizations well into the 1970′s in this country. Middle class Whites on the other hand were never encouraged by our government to “plan” their families by reducing their number. The lives of untold millions of children have been snuffed out (with a good percentage of them being Black) courtesy of our government and a naive public who have bought the whole line that this is simply a “women’s rights” issue. In a previous post, I tried to put in perspective the social, economic and political impact of reducing our numbers. Once again, I have noticed that Blacks who take a stance on this issue condemning abortion in the public square are typically left without the support of those who also claim to share their beliefs. What they are typically met with are a bunch of nitpickers who will find anything to comfortably distance themselves from the same belief that was widely embraced by both the Black civil rights movement and the Black power movement of the 1960′s and 70′s. I believe this is deeply rooted in the fact that in today’s world, since the pro-life movement is largely led by White conservatives, Blacks (who on most social issues tend to lean left) are uncomfortable sharing that platform. This can be seen in other issues as well.
On both of these issues, this post is not a call for people to take to the streets in protest or block the doors of abortion clinics. But just as in the case of Amadou “Ahmed” Diallo, Jena 6, James Byrd, Brandon McClelland, Shaquanda Cotton and others, there is no limit to what people who are moved by conviction are willing to do.
The active word here is “conviction“.
Sphere: Related Content