i am deeply disappointed with the results of the prop 8 ballot, but i don't understand why andrew sullivan continues to want to lay this at the feet of african americans; his use of exit polls is selective at best. if we are going to win future battles, we need to diagnose the loss properly.

1. african americans made up 10% of the ~10 million votes cast; with a 70/30 split, this means ~700k african americans voted for inequality. well so did ~970 latinos and ~432k asians/others; the margin we lost by is currently at ~427,000. so why not say we lost because of those asian/others? (cuz that's wrong too)

2. even if african americans voted like "enlightened" whites did, 49% yes to 51% no, we would have lost by ~220k votes.

3. what about people 65 or older? ~945k voted for inequality; white and 65 or older? ~672k voted for inequality. So is this not as much generational as about race?

4. the split between yes and no was most extreme along party lines with 81% of republicans, or ~2.27 million, voting for inequality. the number among white republicans? also 81% or ~1.86 million voting for inequality. ideology played a far more significant role than race, and african americans are overwhelmingly democrats.

clearly,due to the role certain christian churches have played in african american communities, there is deep homophobia therein; the same can be said for latinos and catholicism. religion is the primary culprit here, not race, and this dovetails with the secondary culprit, republican conservatism, as evidenced by the numbers.  if we want to harp on african americans because of the irony of a once legally discriminated against group supporting legal discrimination against another group, that's fine, but that that will only get us intellectual kudos. if we want to win, african american preachers like... ah rev. wright.... who welcome openly gay and lesbian members into their congregations and preach against homophobia as a form of hatred, need to be engaged... and latino pastors.... and white pastors. it would also help if white gay and lesbian people would open their eyes to the racism within the lgbt community and start engaging with communities of color on points of conflict in urban areas like gentrification, employment, mass incarceration and political  representation.

saddened but not defeated,
g.ken patton

i am deeply disappointed with the results of the prop 8 ballot, but i don't understand why andrew sullivan continues to want to lay this at the feet of african americans; his use of exit polls is selective at best. if we are going to win future battles, we need to diagnose the loss properly.

1. african americans made up 10% of the ~10 million votes cast; with a 70/30 split, this means ~700k african americans voted for inequality. well so did ~970 latinos and ~432k asians/others; the margin we lost by is currently at ~427,000. so why not say we lost because of those asian/others? (cuz that's wrong too)

2. even if african americans voted like "enlightened" whites did, 49% yes to 51% no, we would have lost by ~220k votes.

3. what about people 65 or older? ~945k voted for inequality; white and 65 or older? ~672k voted for inequality. So is this not as much generational as about race?

4. the split between yes and no was most extreme along party lines with 81% of republicans, or ~2.27 million, voting for inequality. the number among white republicans? also 81% or ~1.86 million voting for inequality. ideology played a far more significant role than race, and african americans are overwhelmingly democrats.

clearly,due to the role certain christian churches have played in african american communities, there is deep homophobia therein; the same can be said for latinos and catholicism. religion is the primary culprit here, not race, and this dovetails with the secondary culprit, republican conservatism, as evidenced by the numbers.  if we want to harp on african americans because of the irony of a once legally discriminated against group supporting legal discrimination against another group, that's fine, but that that will only get us intellectual kudos. if we want to win, african american preachers like... ah rev. wright.... who welcome openly gay and lesbian members into their congregations and preach against homophobia as a form of hatred, need to be engaged... and latino pastors.... and white pastors. it would also help if white gay and lesbian people would open their eyes to the racism within the lgbt community and start engaging with communities of color on points of conflict in urban areas like gentrification, employment, mass incarceration and political  representation.

saddened but not defeated,
g.ken patton