Did Blacks Push CA Prop 8 Over the Top?

[stevento]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/11/did-blacks-tank.html

This say since blacks oppose gay marriage and civil unions, Barack Obama's candidacy increased black turnout which put Prop 8 over the top. Prop 8 won with 52%. and black voted for it 70-30.

But I'm black and me and my brother both cant find any reason why Prop 8 makes any sense and I voted against it. I cast a provisional ballot, so it probably hasn't been looked at yet.
Discuss.
What do you guys think about Prop 8 (which has re-enacted a 2000 ban on gay marriage in CA that was thrown out by a judge this past May)?

[Chundles]

So we're saying "blacks" now?

[és:]

So we're saying "blacks" now?

What else would you call a group of black people? I have no problem with the term 'whites', why would there be a problem with a black man calling people blacks?

[Queso]

But I'm black and me and my brother both cant find any reason why Prop 8 makes any sense and I voted against it.
I think you answered your own question there. People of all races voted either for or against Prop 8.

[blackfox]

Stevento,

There have already been a couple threads discussing Prop 8 (and it's companion pieces in other States) - and this specific issue has been raised in them (iirc).

That said, your phrasing has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. I'm not sure I see this thread ending well...

Regardless of the reasons behind the passage of Prop 8 - the real issue will be how these propositions relate to the 14th Amendment. Which I am sure we will see soon enough...

[jplan2008]

From Nate Silver:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/prop-8-myths.html

But the notion that Prop 8 passed because of the Obama turnout surge is silly. Exit polls suggest that first-time voters -- the vast majority of whom were driven to turn out by Obama (he won 83 percent [!] of their votes) -- voted against Prop 8 by a 62-38 margin. More experienced voters voted for the measure 56-44, however, providing for its passage.

Now, it's true that if new voters had voted against Prop 8 at the same rates that they voted for Obama, the measure probably would have failed. But that does not mean that the new voters were harmful on balance -- they were helpful on balance. If California's electorate had been the same as it was in 2004, Prop 8 would have passed by a wider margin.

Furthermore, it would be premature to say that new Latino and black voters were responsible for Prop 8's passage. Latinos aged 18-29 (not strictly the same as 'new' voters, but the closest available proxy) voted against Prop 8 by a 59-41 margin. These figures are not available for young black voters, but it would surprise me if their votes weren't fairly close to the 50-50 mark.

At the end of the day, Prop 8's passage was more a generational matter than a racial one. If nobody over the age of 65 had voted, Prop 8 would have failed by a point or two. It appears that the generational splits may be larger within minority communities than among whites, although the data on this is sketchy.

The good news for supporters of marriage equity is that -- and there's no polite way to put this -- the older voters aren't going to be around for all that much longer, and they'll gradually be cycled out and replaced by younger voters who grew up in a more tolerant era. Everyone knew going in that Prop 8 was going to be a photo finish -- California might be just progressive enough and 2008 might be just soon enough for the voters to affirm marriage equity. Or, it might fall just short, which is what happened. But two or four or six or eight years from now, it will get across the finish line.

[Cleverboy]

But I'm black and me and my brother both cant find any reason why Prop 8 makes any sense and I voted against it. I cast a provisional ballot, so it probably hasn't been looked at yet.

This topic for a thread got closed.

How can African Americans be so anti-Gay rights?
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=596169

I'm black and I see NO problem with Prop 8. Whoopee-doo. If you want to educate yourself on the merits of prop 8, you shouldn't simply create another thread on it, just so you can learn opinions that have already been expressed throughout the Prop 8 threads. Just read those threads!

One of the cornerstones of the black community is the CHURCH. The church disseminates opinion on gay marriage openly and its rejection has been a staple tenet in these communities. Due to young men being claimed by AIDs and violence, minority church communities have become very susceptible to scapegoating. Even for those not attending the church, its edicts are fairly viral in reach. It's not rocket science.
"The success of Proposition 8 is certainly about religion more than anything else but there's no denying those attitudes are ingrained in the black community - homosexuality just isn't accepted the way it is in other communities," says Toni-Michelle Travis, a political science professor who specializes in race at George Mason University in Virginia.
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gv6xUtfb1UX4LOtBvdFyaampVu7w

Gay and lesbian rights leaders in California are filing suit against Proposition 8, arguing it's illegal because it strips a fundamental constitutional right from a select group of people.

Before such propositions can go to the ballot, they argue, the state legislature must approve them and that didn't happen in California.

The Aguirres are confident their battle will eventually be won, especially after a San Francisco march last Friday night that was attended by people of all races and from all walks of life.

"There were friends, lovers and families like ours," said Aja Aguirre, who has a 10-year-old daughter, Celeste.

"It felt so good to be there and be part of this effort not to back down, not be silenced or defeated. Seeing the thousands of people gathered together there peacefully brought tears to my eyes and was exactly what I needed to shake off the depression I'd been in since it became clear on election night that Prop. 8 would pass."

~ CB

[Sdashiki]

Hooper:

I gotta deal with being a minority in a minority of the minority, and nobody's supportin' my ass.


Blacks can be just as gay as whites, yellows, pinks, purples, greens, and even magentas.

[mkrishnan]

This topic for a thread got closed.

Sorry... having just done this several times in other threads, I don't think we need another one, so in line with the decisions to close the previous threads, I'm going to do this one in too.