Dear California, Here's Where They Went Wrong With Proposition 8
Date: Monday, November 10, 2008, 1:17 pm
By: Jasmyne A. Cannick, Special to BlackAmericaWeb.com

I am a perfect example of why the fight against Proposition 8, which amends the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, failed to win black support.

I am black. I am a political activist who cares deeply about social justice issues. I am a lesbian. This year, I canvassed the streets of South Los Angeles and Compton, knocking on doors, talking politics to passers-by and working as I never had before to ensure a large voter turnout among African-Americans. But even I wasn't inspired to encourage black people to vote against the proposition.

Why? Because I don't see why the right to marry should be a priority for me or other black people. Gay marriage? Please. At a time when blacks are still more likely than whites to be pulled over for no reason, more likely to be unemployed than whites, more likely to live at or below the poverty line, I was too busy trying to get black people registered to vote, period; I wasn't about to focus my attention on what couldn't help but feel like a secondary issue.

The first problem with Proposition 8 was the issue of marriage itself. The white gay community never successfully communicated to blacks why it should matter to us above everything else - not just to me as a lesbian but to blacks generally. The way I see it, the white gay community is banging its head against the glass ceiling of a room called equality, believing that a breakthrough on marriage will bestow on it parity with heterosexuals. But the right to marry does nothing to address the problems faced by both black gays and black straights. Does someone who is homeless or suffering from HIV but has no healthcare, or newly out of prison and unemployed, really benefit from the right to marry someone of the same sex?

If Sarah Palin goofs, flounders, stumbles or blunders during her debate against Joe Biden on Thursday night, Biden is going to let it slide.

"If she makes a gaffe, he underplays it," one of the people prepping Biden for his vice presidential debate told me. "At most, he says, `I am not sure what Gov. Palin meant there.'"

There are three reasons for this. First, Biden does not want to look condescending. For the same reason, he plans on referring to Palin as "Gov. Palin" during the debate and never as "Sarah." (He will sometimes refer to John McCain as "John," however, because they have been senators together for many years.)

Second, Biden knows the press is going to pounce on any mistakes, and so he does not need to.

Third, and most important, Sarah Palin is not Biden's true target.

"Joe Biden's No. 1 job during the vice presidential debate is to keep the focus on the top of the ticket," the Biden debate prepper told me. "He is going to keep the focus on John McCain."

This is an arguable strategy. After all, McCain is the experienced one on the Republican ticket, the one whose credentials to be commander in chief from Day One are not in much question.

So why attack him instead of Palin, whose lack of readiness has been the subject of endless discussion as well as late-night comedy?