Will gay marriage cause blacks to divorce the Democratic Party?
By: Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
May 18, 2009
A local bishop wants to use black anger over gay marriage to reshape black politics in America.
“[Gay rights advocates] have used race as a litmus test — that if you’re black, you will follow liberal, predominately Democratic, rules of engagement,” Harry Jackson told The Examiner. “I’m saying, ‘Black people, be free.’ ”
Jackson is a District resident and the bishop of a mega-church in Lanham. He’s already inserted himself into the debate in California and Florida and is emerging as a national leader in the rearguard fight against gay marriage. He says the Democratic Party has taken black Americans for granted for too long and that the push for gay marriage is potential grounds for divorce.
D.C. Councilman David Catania, I-at large, shepherded through recent legislation that would have the District recognizing out-of-state gay marriages. He said that Jackson and others were cynically exploiting race as part of a vain, last-ditch effort to derail the momentum for gay rights.
“I don’t think race is as much of a factor as some would have you believe,” Catania said. “I think, in 20 years, marriage equality will be the law of the land.”
Michael Crawford, a black gay activist in D.C., said he didn’t believe Jackson’s support was as deep as he said.
“One of the things that is happening is that Bishop Jackson is being supported by outside groups. They see the opportunity here to divide D.C. along racial lines,” Crawford said. “It is one of the few opportunities they have to push back.”
Nevertheless, Jackson said he and his allies deserved credit for helping turn back pro-gay marriage efforts in California and in Florida.
He said he was helping black voters to understand that they could demand what he calls “social justice” — government intervention in civil rights or the economy — without sacrificing social conservatism.
“I believe there is a counter-revolution for righteousness that is happening among religious African-Americans, which will spill over to commonsense-thinking African-Americans, who will ask themselves, ‘Why am I going to let any party determine what is best for my community?’ ” he said.
