Sunday, November 9, 2008

Proposition 8 And African-Americans



Last week on "The Rachel Maddow Show", I saw what I think to be excellent commentary on the reasons for the successful passage of Proposition 8, which bans same sex marriage in California. African-Americans make up only 10% of the population in California, but they turned out in large numbers to vote for Obama, while, at the same time, they voted for the ban on gay marriage. According to exit polls, around 70% voted in favor of the ban.

Melissa Harris-Lacewell, Associate Professor of Politics and African American Studies at Princeton University, explains why she believes this happened. The video is five minutes long, but it's worth watching.

By the way, Rachel Maddow is off to a great start with her new show. I watch her often. The pace of her show is slower than some of the other news shows. She gives her guest commentators more time to talk. She's smart, witty, and an all-around attractive personality.

18 comments:

  1. Luv Rachel.

    And I really love it that she's been getting higher ratings than Falafel Bill O'Lufah after such a very short time on the air.

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  2. Thanks, Gram, I hadn't had a chance to hunt this one down and watch it till now, been busy writing overseas bishops if ya know what I mean. ;)

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  3. She's right in many ways. OUr side owns some of the error.

    Hope that someone is telling Overseas Bishops something about the ones doing the squawking.

    IT

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  4. IT, Harris-Lacewell said that the "yes" voters were bigoted, and she's right.

    What she said that I thought was truly important is that civil partnerships and marriages are not the same thing, and that this difference moves the law into the territory of separate but equal, which we know never turns out to be true and which is, in fact, probably unconstitutional.

    I'll send you an email.

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  5. It's a revealing talk, and one I agree with.

    Clearly, we need to bridge some gaps.

    I hope that the courts will reject prop 8 for the many reasons it is being litigated, but that does not change the bigotry.

    It is heartbreaking to see, actually.

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  6. This was great - I saw it live the other night. Loving Rachel!

    I had a long talk with my friend who worked very hard on the No on 8 matter in LA and will post about some of their group's (www.lovehonorcherish.org) reflections on what went wrong.

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  7. Yes, IT, it was a very supportive letter that encouraged to bishop to go and read the hate on that other site. I would hate to see MP go away or lose employment over this.

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  8. Rachel is a real gift. I'm grateful that she has appeared when she has appeared.

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  9. I'm reporting in that I wrote my letter. I thought it came out not too bad. Anyway, I did my best for the old boy.

    Rachel is surely in the right place at the right time. I generally like Ms Harris-Lacewell's commentary, too. Rachel has her on frequently.

    Paul, I'm going to your link now, love.

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  10. What, no hat-tip? (j/k---I know you saw Rachel live, too. I did have a bit of a time cutting and pasting the link to the above over on Maddie's, though)

    And speaking of which---I better go see how he's holding up...

    [Really liked your link, Paul(A)!]

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  11. This was good to see. I love Rachel.

    I'm exhausted from all of this. MP really pissed me off in the last few days, if it's not disloyal to say so. It's not that he's wrong, it's that he keeps changing the argument to suit the arguee of the moment. Frustrating as all hell. I love him, but I'm glad I don't live with him.

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  12. PJ Hussein, have I told you that I am happy to have an African-American president? Very happy. I did not think I'd see it in my lifetime.

    I was profoundly unhappy about Prop 8 and the votes in the other states, but I am thrilled about Obama. Think of the alternative! Had McCain won, I would probably not be able to get out of bed.

    Last week I did not celebrate the victory over the forces of evil as I would have liked, but this week I am celebrating.

    Regarding gay marriage, we don't give up. We fight on. This was a temporary victory for frightened people who know that they will lose in the end.

    The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice. MLK

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  13. Paul (A.), thanks for that excellent link. I'll get back to it.

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  14. MLK quote = gooooood.

    Sorry. I'm burned out from reading bad poetry submissions today. I've been reduced to writing comments like "miserable subject matter ≠ good poem."

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  15. I wish we could see a couple of poems, PJ, but that wouldn't be ethical.

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  16. I discovered Rachel's show several weeks ago; I think I've not missed a show since. She's got me watching news again, and I haven't screamed at the antics of the thugs even once. She deserves every bit of success she's getting, and more.

    Modern media miracles!

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  17. You know the word that I think best describes Rachel (aka "Our Rachel"!)?

    Charming.

    The woman is just charming. Heck, even Pat Buchanan can't help loving her (just a little bit).

    [Yeah, yeah: And righteous. And freakin' brilliant. (Rhodes Scholar, Oxford PhD) But those are just gimmees! ;-D]

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