Blacks voted overwhelming in support of Proposition 8. They were the only racial group who, beyond the margin of error, voted in favor of discrimination against gays. What does this mean?
Does it mean blacks qua blackness are homophobes? Or does it mean that poor people are religious; black people tend to be poor; therefore blacks tend to be religious. Thus, it's religion, not race, that explains Black America's support for discrimination?
In the spirit of religion, I'll make a confession. I. Don't. Know. I don't know if there is an objective reality. Even if there is, I do not know that I could comprehend it. I do not have an understanding of capital-t, Truth.
I do know something, though. I know logical consistency. I can analyze arguments to determine whether conclusions flow from premises. I can analyze arguments to determine if they are coherent with one another. And on this issue, there is a lot of inconsistency.
When blacks are under represented in some desirable aspect of society, what are we told? Racism! Too few black women who are partners in law firms? Racism. Too few black men in law school? Racism. Blacks under earn whites? Racism.
In other words, race is the explanatory factor. It's the black person's blackness that prevents him from becoming a partner.
When blacks are disenfranchised, it's not because they are poor, or religious. We don't hear people say, "Blacks tend to be deeply religious. Religious people don't do as well as non-religious people in some industries." Or, "Blacks tend to grow up poor. It's harder for poor people to rise to the top." Again, the answer is this: It's the person's blackness that is causing him grief. Whites see that blackness and discriminate.
We are thus told that racism is the problem and race-based affirmation action is the solution.
But when blacks vote overwhelmingly in favor of discrimination, suddenly we're not allowed to look at race. It's not that blacks qua blackness are bigoted or homophobic. Oh, no. It's that they are religious. Their religion is the cause of their discrimination.
Imagine I said, "Hey, that makes sense. Because of that, we should end race-based affirmative action. Instead, we should give affirmative action based on class or religious beliefs." How many people would accept that idea? Almost none.
White people do discriminate against blacks. Black people do discriminate against gays. And it's the white person's whiteness and the black person's blackness that explains the discrimination.
UPDATE: My argument may have been refuted. No time to parse this, but something to consider.
