Dearest C.R.,

Yes. Understand that black folks are not a monolith as evidenced by the 42% who did not vote for Prop. 8. It seems to me that you would embrace the 58% who agree with your position. I hope that the NAACP will change enough minds to make a difference. They have a hard road to walk as conservative black ministers hold a lot of sway. Understand that some of this homophobia is rooted in white identity racism: black men being called boy, lynchings and castrations, forced sterilization of men and women. And let us not forget that the womanhood of black females is still being called into question, ([i]'aint I a...

Dearest C.R.,

Yes. Understand that black folks are not a monolith as evidenced by the 42% who did not vote for Prop. 8. It seems to me that you would embrace the 58% who agree with your position. I hope that the NAACP will change enough minds to make a difference. They have a hard road to walk as conservative black ministers hold a lot of sway. Understand that some of this homophobia is rooted in white identity racism: black men being called boy, lynchings and castrations, forced sterilization of men and women. And let us not forget that the womanhood of black females is still being called into question, ('aint I a woman too - Harriet Tubman cum Michelle Obama.

When a people are told for centuries that they are not homo sapiens sapiens then by extension the message is they are not heterosexual. Homophobia is a way to lay claim to ones heterosexuality: to paraphrase I am an homo sapiens sapien too. That's a twisted outcome, but one that corresponds to the history of the United States where "minorities' have had to fight for social acceptance which required (requires) collaboration with white racist and homophobic culture to trample on the humanity and rights of others: the history between the Irish and Blacks is illustrative:

newly arrived Irish-Americans judged that the best way of gaining acceptance as good citizens and to counter the Nativist movement was to cooperate in the continued oppression of African Americans.

I have never claimed that black folks are perfect. We are after all, human beings.

Love,
Zizzy