By Seizing the Truth, We Seize the Upper Hand
Filed by: Guest Blogger
December 15, 2008 12:00 PM
http://www.bilerico.com/2008/12/by_seizing_the_truth_we_seize_the_upper.phpEditors' Note: Today's guest bloggers are Bishop Carlton Pearson and Bishop John L. Selders, Jr. Bishop Pearson is the founder and senior pastor of the New Dimensions Worship Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bishop Selders is an ordained minister serving the United Church of Christ and is the organizing pastor of Amistad United Church of Christ in Hartford, Connecticut.
bishopselders_2.jpgCarltonPearson.gif
We've all heard the statistic: 7 out of 10 African-Americans voted in favor of California's Proposition 8, which stripped gay and lesbian couples of the right to marry. We've all seen the outrage and hurt that this alleged black homophobia has caused, especially since it occurred just as the nation elected the most pro-equality president in history.
We know now that this "7 out of 10" figure is false, but that it fit into a myth that for too long has divided those of us who want justice and equality under the law: that people of color are more homophobic than white people. Time and again, this myth has been shown to be false. Yet it is still reported in the media as fact.
A recent Newsweek poll shows that 40 percent of whites support marriage equality, and that 37 percent of "non-whites," or people of color, feel the same. That is a far cry from what the media has reported since Proposition 8 passed.
