Disgrace.
A recent Gallup poll revealed that despite the fact that less than half of all Americans oppose same-sex marriage, the majority of blacks, particularly religious blacks, don't believe gays deserve the right to marry.
From Gallup:
In 2010, just 30% of non-Hispanic blacks favor gay marriage while 59% are opposed. From 2008 to 2009, 28% of blacks favored same-sex marriage and 62% were opposed (surveys were combined to increase sample size). Notably, the gender, age and education differences among the general public are mirrored among whites and blacks; however, there is far less support among all subgroups of blacks.
The poll showed that black Protestants (who make up 78% of all black Americans) oppose gay rights more than any other group except white evangelical Protestants (like Fred Phelps and his God Hates Fags church).
Black people also seem to despise the idea of allowing gays to die for their country. In 1994, 57% of blacks supported allowing gays to serve openly in the U.S. military. This year, that support dropped to 48%. Opposition remained at the same level, however: 38% opposed then and now. Similarly, 55% of black Protestants supported gays in the military in 1994, compared to the 46% today. Today, slightly more black protestants oppose gays in the military (41%) as compared to 1994 (39%).
Blacks don't own the copyright on homophobia, but they do seem to have cornered the market. I believe there are four reasons for black homophobia (there may be more, but these are the one that immediately come to my mind) :
- 1. Religion. Black Americans (or maybe ALL Americans) are among the most superstitious people on the planet. They have taken what was once their slave masters' religion and used it to liberate themselves from the tyranny of antebellum slavery. However, we've yet to be ingenious enough to remove what is perhaps the inherent flaw in any organized religion: the need for an enemy. Religion simply cannot function without an Other to demonize. Throughout history, women, Pagans, Native Americans and blacks have found themselves the targets of religious terrorism. Gays are simply the latest in a long line of subjects who are held up as scapegoats onto whom all the sins and vices of the society can be poured. What makes black homophobia super egregious, however, is that having been the sacrificial lambs themselves, one would think that blacks would be more sympathetic to gay rights. Instead, like the whites before them who said, "I may be poor, but at least I'm not black," blacks find shelter and solace in "I may be black, but at least I'm not gay."
- 2. Envy, entitlement, indifference and practicality. On completely self-serving and emotional levels, blacks feel, quite simply, that since we don't yet have all the rights and privileges entitled to us (perhaps on paper, but certainly not in practice), gays shouldn't have theirs yet, either. In other words: Wait your turn! Blacks also feel that the right for gays to marry isn't as important as, say, the right not to be murdered in cold blood by police officers or the right to be able to properly feed and educate one's children or other immediate, tangible concerns. Apparently, everything is mutually exclusive when it comes to civil rights.
- 3. Racism in the gay community. To most black people, white gays are indistinguishable from the white, often affluent society that they perceive as oppressors. Unfortunately, the gay community has given blacks ample justification for this position. Thus, blacks are adamant about not supporting any cause that will give whites--gay or straight--greater license to oppress them. And gayness, in the minds of ignorant blacks, is most certainly a white thing.
- 4. Closeted black homosexuals. Since a great many black homosexuals are afraid to come out of the closet because of the rampant homophobia in black society (especially the black church), there are relatively few voices from within the community to combat the rhetoric and relatively few individuals to put a face on the specter. Therefore, the ignorance remains largely unassailable.
What these homophobic blacks fail to realize is that, despite their irrational arguments ("I can't change my blackness, but you can change your gayness"), their position gives racism credence. By being proudly homophobic, they're essentially saying that it's okay--more than okay: righteous--to be a bigot. And if we're assigning righteousness to bigotry, then that means that all bigotry must be righteous, not just the bigotry that doesn't affect us.
We're either a just society for everyone or we're a society that tolerates injustice against anyone.