LGBT Activists Criticize Obama's Speech for What Wasn't There, But Miss a Very Big Thing That Was

If you needed evidence that the community of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people is not monolithic in its politics, reaction to President Obama's speech to the annual Human Rights Campaign dinner offers plenty. But in their criticism of the president's remarks as "been there, done that," LGBT critics missed the real gift in Obama's speech: the first African-American president equated their struggle with that of the civil rights activists of the 1960s.

In his speech, the president mentioned all of the major legislative issues that motivate LGBT activists, including his promise to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the law that bars LGBT people from serving openly in the military.

But he offered no timetable, no specifics. He failed to mention the anti-same-sex marriage ballot measures percolating in several states, most notably, Maine, where the religious right has organized to overturn marriage equality in that state.

After Obama spoke, activists focused on what they did not hear. The rest of it sounded old to them. To me, it sounded remarkably new, especially this part:

Now, I've said this before, I'll repeat it again -- it's not for me to tell you to be patient, any more than it was for others to counsel patience to African Americans petitioning for equal rights half a century ago. (Applause.) But I will say this: We have made progress and we will make more.

As LGBT people battle for marriage rights, the president's comparison of our struggle to that of the civil rights movement marks a critical turning point. As the first African-American president, he holds unprecedented authority to make that claim, right at the moment when religious-right leaders have initiated campaigns to organize African-American people of faith against marriage equality. That may not matter so much in Maine, but it does in Washington, D.C., and in California, where the battle rages on.

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Comments

[BoyInBOYCOTT]

Both those who oppose and those who support full equality for LGBTs know within a decade this will happen.
This is evolution, and no power will stop it.
Knowing where we are going, means people have a choice NOW, be on the right side of History or the wrong side of History.
Do you want to be looked back as George Wallace barring the door of schools integrating, or McCarthy and Roy Cohn questioning for Un American activities, or do you want to be remembered as Dr King, Ceasar Chavez, Barbara Jordan who were trailblazers?

[johnfoirdfw]

I am willing to be patient. I trust the man.

[LintLass]

Anyway, for those who've used a lot of words to try and prove 'You LBGT people are impatient and that's wrong, and not supporting Obama...'

Let's quote from Obama... As quoted in the article, shall we?

(Remember the article? :) )

"Now, I've said this before, I'll repeat it again -- it's not for me to tell you to be patient, any more than it was for others to counsel patience to African Americans petitioning for equal rights half a century ago. (Applause.) But I will say this: We have made progress and we will make more."

Good enough for me.

[BoyInBOYCOTT]

LBJ told MLK and other Civil Rights leaders.....MAKE ME pass Civil Rights laws
That's what LGBT activists are doing for (not to) Obama. he needs our pressure visible and loud to pressure Congress to send him the bills.

[LintLass]

And that's. What that. Is.

[nicole473]

Eris23 I'm a Fan of Eris23 I'm a fan of this user 25 fans permalink

"Eris, I already explained that I won't further discuss this with a person who resorts to personal attacks for no reason."

So, are you implying that there was a reason for the personal attack you opened with against homosexuals? Yeah, I think you've given everyone here enough of a clue as to what the reason is. Good job, Nicole. :)

----------­----------­----------­----------­-

Okay, Eris. Please point me to the " personal attack I opened with against homosexuals"

[Eris23]

"I am both a supporter of LGBT issues and of Pres Obama.

HOWEVER.........

If the LGBT community continues to

1. rag on the Pres for putting health care reform first"

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adele-stan/lgbt-activists-criticize_b_317893.html?show_comment_id=32730913#comment_32730913

"Yeah right. LGBT issues are so much more important than the 47 million uninsured. 45 thousand of which die annually because they are uninsured."

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adele-stan/lgbt-activists-criticize_b_317893.html?show_comment_id=32730913#comment_32730913

You're only digging yourself deeper.

[nicole473]

"You're only digging yourself deeper."

Yeah, so you keep saying. A pity you have no ability to discern who is actually right.

[nicole473]

I had posted another comment and it seems to be "lost".

Eris, none of that was an "attack on the homosexual community". It was a statement of my opinion as to how the LGBT community reacted to Obama's second promise to take care of their issues. And yes, many in said community reacted negatively, which I felt was uncalled for.

He can't do LGBT before HCR. He has not got the political capital to get it through. Yet, some of you attack him in spite of his obvious support.

And, btw, you did not post my original post. You parsed several posts, so they are all out of context. Sad that you would feel you had to resort to that kind of lie.

[MoeB]

I am all for LGBT rights in this country...I think we are way past our time. That said: we as americans need to get over our 'do it yesterday!' mentality. We already know that our Congress moves EXTRA slow on just about everything, so why do we expect to have everything done by Obama in 10 months?

I mean, how many times did Bush meet with the LGBT community in his EIGHT YEARS in office?

Further, how long do you think it took for Civil Rights Legislation to get passed? And once it did, it took quite a while longer for many communities to get with the program.

It's one thing to stay on an administration to ENSURE that progess is made...I'm behind that 100%. It can possibly backfire to constantly have this charged rhetoric at Obama...not for REFUSING to address gay/lesbian issues, but simply because he's not moving fast enough.

We MUST learn to be both patient and persistant without BASHING an advocate because they haven't been perfect. We should also understand that we will probably lose this battle without heterosexuals...so we need to listen to their voices also and not lose their sympathy, which it appears we are starting to by being so hard on Obama so early in the game.

[LintLass]

Time for a new name? :)

It's not 'us' who are characterizing our staying visible as 'bashing.'

There are still surely provocateurs, ...who may or may not have anyone's best interests at heart.

But turning around and blaming gays for how the health care debate has gone doesn't help either.

We're not a 'third rail' anymore. Unless you chicken out.

[MoeB]

"It's not 'us' who are characterizing our staying visible as 'bashing.' "

Well, I *kinda* am...and I don't feel this way about all gays, but there are some who have ALREADY given up on this administration.

But you are right...using gays as a scapegoat for healthcare not going as planned is WEAK.

[LintLass]

Understand, Moe? The 'conservatives' are *bullies.*

We've dealt with more than a few in our times.

And suggest you treat them as such. Waffling and divisions about principle and who's in who's out.... are blood in the water to them.

[MoeB]

I'm not fully understanding your point. Are you accusing me of not being fully in this fight because I may differ from you on some things?

[BoyInBOYCOTT]

Heterosexuals are with us, this isn't 1993,
the Voters under 35 yo don't even understand WHY anyone wpould ask if their gay and lesbian friends should have full equality?

they answer YES

[MoeB]

Goodness. I didn't say they weren't. I said we can't win this fight WITHOUT them, so we should be mindful of that.

And I'm under 35...yes, MOST people my age and younger don't see why you would NOT have equality for gays...but unfortunately, there are some exceptions...but we should be proud that we have younger generations where bigotry towards gays are EXCEPTIONS, and not the norm.

[JackNasty]

You really need to look at what Obama said at the HRC dinner and follow his example:

"Now, I've said this before, I'll repeat it again -- it's not for me to tell you to be patient, any more than it was for others to counsel patience to African Americans petitioning for equal rights half a century ago. (Applause.) But I will say this: We have made progress and we will make more."

[nicole473]

Just an FYI.

I am both a supporter of LGBT issues and of Pres Obama.

HOWEVER.........

If the LGBT community continues to

1. rag on the Pres for putting health care reform first
2. tie LGBT issues to the civil rights movement of the 1960's

they will lose many, many supporters in the straight community.

[LintLass]

I don't agree with this characterization. Not everyone believes there's any *necessity* for one of these things to come before another, and let's face it, it's not the Democrats' 'choosing priorities' that has stalled *either* good health care or equality for LBGT Americans all these years.

It's those doing the stalling and delaying... And the propagandizing.

As for tying things to the 60s... Gays were *in* the civil rights struggle of the 60s.

Those who would seek to divide one group against another have always done this.

But if all aren't equal, what you have is not 'equality.' It's something else, and that something can be taken away on the same bases as you use to exclude the next ones. There's moving *toward* equality, and there's moving away. There's no two ways or standing still about it.

[nicole473]

The timing is critical, and it has to do with expending political capital.

[LintLass]

The timing is a valid concern, but that doesn't make it a competition. Making civil rights for some Americans seem validly *negotiable* in some way did not help health care. but I think we all knew the teabaggers would be screaming 'Antichrist' over health care reform, anyway.

We spent the summer listening to all that.

If you want to talk about 'political capital' Give us some credit. Or maybe see what cooperation can do.

[Eris23]

These are all logical fallacies presented only by people who oppose gay rights. Can you cite me an example of one advocacy group stressing that it is more important to address gay rights than healthcare? As for the argument about the "Civil Rights Movement," this is bunk too since this only ever seems to anger people who are against gay rights. The more pragmatic and rational are able to understand how it is a civil rights issue, in that the law is being used to systematically oppress and dehumanize people.

[nicole473]

You like to attack people who don't agree with you using the notion of "logical fallacies". The problem is that you use it indiscriminately and you apparently don't have an understanding of the definition.

You attacked me on a personal level because I disagree with your views. You might want to figure out how to have a civil conversation without resorting to name calling.

[LintLass]

Always with the "you, you, you, me, me, me."

Nicole. If you want to *help,* you should be doing other than spending your days claiming it's somehow legitimate to blame LBGT people for what the GOP do, and therefore promise 'gay people will be punished for this blame I keep putting on you while claiming your troubles aren't real or important.

Maybe you ought to stop talking in terms of what's *worse* injustice and start talking about *justice.* For all.

[BoyInBOYCOTT]

@nichole473

LGBTs were also fighting for OUR Civil Rights before the 1960s....Matachine Sociey
and would you give US (LGBTS) a date when it's convenient for heterosexuals to give AMERICAN tax paying citizens the Rights guaranteed by our Creator.

I'll mark it on my calendar and not bother you until then.

[nicole473]

Before the 1960's??? Hardly. You were not even out of the closet, much less fighting for civil rights.

[LintLass]

Those who do not remember the past...

Listen, Nicole. Those who were *in* the closet were there for reasons. Even when risking their lives for racial equality.

Coming *out* of the closet was also for good reasons.

Those reasons don't include being scapegoated by both parties.

[BoyInBOYCOTT]

We aren't asking Obama.....HE PROMISED US

[nicole473]

Yes he did. TWICE now.

[MoeB]

So then we should give the man time to deliver on that promise. He cannot change the world overnight.

[BoyInBOYCOTT]

Nichole you can think as you choose and you can join the president dismissing LGBTS equality.

What you can't do.....is ask an LGBT American to ever FUND or vote for Obama or lackluster democrats again.

Don't Ask....serously DON'T ASK.....again

are we CLEAR?

[MoeB]

Woah. How has he dismissed the LGBT community and LGBT equality?

Has Obama come out and stated that he will no longer repeal DADT?
Has Obama come out and stated that he opposes hate crime legislation aimed at protecting the LGBT community?
Has Obama come out and stated that he will no longer support civil unions for gays, or that he's against the states that have allowed gay marriage?
Has Obama come out and stated that he doesn't think gays are entitled to the same rights as heterosexuals because of their "behavior"???

[LintLass]

That's what she wants. We've had this discussion before. She's not interested in the Dems even winning or succeeding. Just she wants to *divide* their support. If she were about health care reform, well, she wouldn't be posting on all *these* threads denying our concerns are real or valid.

[AlexTryst]

Yes, the comment made by Obama is new for him. And I certainly appreciate him acknowledging what has been common knowledge for a long time, whereas previously he bypassed it. Still, it's common knowledge. While the historical reasons for discrimination among the two groups may be different, the fact of being discriminated against for being "different" is the parallel. It should be amplified even more as this movement continues.

[nicole473]

The depth of the discrimination is VASTLY different, as are the consequences of the discrimination.

To compare the struggle of a people we enslaved to any other disadvantaged group in this country is sheer poppycock, IMO. And I am an Obama supporter.

[LintLass]

The consequences are different, but no less severe: especially in terms of what the *law* can do, saying LBGT people can't have civil rights cause black people got them, or that it somehow takes something away from equality for some to remain unequal ... just plain doesn't make sense.

Frankly, I've had enough beatings and injustices upon myself justified by people saying, "Something else was worse."

Liberty for justice for all, or *not.* If bigots can cut some from the herd, who's next?

[AlexTryst]

I didn't say anything about depth of discrimination. My point was that discrimination on the basis of being "different" is what is the same and should be used as a tool in the movement.

It's the same across all kinds of discrimination in this country, from a kid being bullied at school for not being like the other kids to employment discrimination to LGBT rights denial to the segregation that still continues in parts of the South in this day and age.

It's always the same. If you are different than us, you're an outsider, and we won't accept you. That's the premise of discrimination in all it's forms, even the two Obama compared in his speech.

[JackNasty]

Please, cut the only black suffer from discrimination nonsense. African Americans don't have a monopoly on discrimination.

• Gay men and women were and still are rejected by their own families. African Americans were never disowned by their families because they were black.

• Gay people were cast out from the schools, churches and circles of friends. African Americans always had their schools, friends and churches

• Gay men and women were locked up for life in insane asylums for being gay. African Americans were not.

• Gay men and women were convicted of violating sodomy laws and locked up as criminals and even executed for being gay.

• It's 2009, African Americans have been protected from discrimination by state and federal laws since 1964. Gay men and women are fighting to repeal laws that require federal and state governments to discriminate against us.

• Gay men and women are still fired from their jobs just for being gay and in most of the US they have no legal recourse.

• Gay men and women are still being discharged from the military because they are gay.

• Gay men and women are not free to marry their partners in all but six states.

So, the next time you feel the urge repeat that that "gay people haven't suffered from discrimination like black people", think of what you have just read and how ridiculous and offensive the comment you are about to make is.

[LintLass]

Aren't 'differences' what 'civil rights' are all *about,* come down to it?

People who don't acknowledge the *similarities* tend to be in denial just what LBGT people of all colors go through.

[LetMeUnderstandThis]

To all in the LGBT community, I am telling you to have patience. This will not happen in "24" hours legislation takes time and also there are some more pressing issues on the table right now. Your are being addressed like so many others, education, health care, economy, etc....... Your time will come.

[Pema]

this is the most condesending and in senstive post i have ever seen. im speechless

[LetMeUnderstandThis]

How is it condescending and insensitive? So getting health care should be put on the back burner so that L's & G's can marry? My post is about priorities and your are being too sensitive.

It's simple do you fix the whole in the roof or get clean up the back yard?

[AlexTryst]

Try looking into the face of someone who has waited more than half their life or the majority of their life and say that. They have a right to get up everyday and get in the face of every politiciand about their issues and needs whether others perceive it as more/less important. Standing in line and waiting does nothing for any issue (not just these). Our politican system is proof of that.

[nicole473]

Yeah right. LGBT issues are so much more important than the 47 million uninsured. 45 thousand of which die annually because they are uninsured.

Thanks for helping me see that my priorities, and those of the Pres, are all wrong.

[LetMeUnderstandThis]

So what you are saying is that the Civil Rights Movement took place in a month? No i happened over a long period of time, and being that the LGBT struggle is being coupled with CRM then they should know that nothing happens over night no matter how much we may want it.

I support the LGBT and it cause but don't think for a minute that I would put your right to get married over health care, education, etc.... You will get the right to be married in time and also the pain an agony of divorce as well.

[LintLass]

Some of these issues are complex. Justice should be *easy.* A no-brainer.

What really holds things up is simply that some people *want* LBGT people not to enjoy full American rights, ...and find stigmatizing us in politics a very useful wedge issue.

The GOP can turn around and look at their increasing­ly-rudderl­ess and hysterical 'movement' and say, 'Listen. Some of us have our religious beliefs on these folks, and many Americans do not. The Constitution says all are equal, and that it's our job to provide equal protection under the law. It's not our place to choose one church's beliefs over another, and our duty as Americans is clear. So we're not going to have a knock-down drag out trying to further divide our nation over stigmatizing, materially-harming, and disenfranchising millions of Americans in the name of our beliefs. If our beliefs are worth anything, they don't need the government to force people to obey them just to get cheap election advantages based on hate rather than our merits or policy.

So we're going to allow equality for all Americans and let society discuss what it means. That's what America is about. '

Could be that easy. Not holding my breath there, though.

[Eris23]

"What really holds things up is simply that some people *want* LBGT people not to enjoy full American rights, ...and find stigmatizing us in politics a very useful wedge issue."

That pretty much nails it head on. At the moment, I am rather ambiguous as to how I feel about President Obama on the issue of equal rights under the law for the LGBT community. However, it does bother me that what you stated above has not been hammered home more by politicians when facing patently absurd arguments from those who oppose equal treatment under the law which they try to pass off as non-offensive and rational.

[LintLass]

But we can chant 'Yes We Can' at a Democrat. That's the beauty of it. ;)

[LetMeUnderstandThis]

I meant to say your issues are being.....

[LintLass]

Maybe the problem is that some people think we're an 'issue' rather than human beings and Americans.

[BoyInBOYCOTT]

Tell that to the lesbian and her partner of 25 years and their children when she had a brain anurism in FL refused to allow her children or partner to go in her room. They had civil union and power of attorney and STILL SHE DIED ALONE, and her family was denied saying goodbye.

[Joe Moore]

It chaps my butt to hear people put down the gays when someone compares it to the Civil Rights struggle of the 1960s.

No, we weren't enslaved or taken from our homes. That is something unique to your civil rights movement. But we have been beaten, killed, ridiculed, segregated by law from all other Americans, pushed out of homes, jobs, countries because of who we are. Maybe we didn't go through exactly what AAs went through, but does that make our struggle any less difficult and important? Telling me that my civil rights struggle is not as important as yours, because we didn't go through the exact same situation is like someone telling me I can't be a Christian because I don't believe to the letter everything they believe.

It's ridiculous. And Congress didn't give the 1060s civil rights fight a timeline, because they weren't going to lift a finger. It was those Republicans pressuring the judges to make a decision. If it had been up to a vote, or congress...I can guarantee you that certain states still wouldn't have equal rights and protections for African Americans.

Lastly, if you were around during the civil rights movement, go back and look at some of those white faces in the crowd marching with you. Many of them were homosexual and supported the African American community because they knew what it felt like to be discriminated against.

[Osmona]

Well said. Just know that even WHEN that paper is signed by the President that gives the Gay community "equal rights" or repeals DADT, or DOMA. Just know that people will STILL hate you and kill you. And continue to do all the bad things that are being done now. That in some eyes you will NEVER be equal. And remember what TRULY counts is what and how you feel about yourself.

This coming from a 55 year old African American woman. AND PROUD OF IT.

[LintLass]

People will still hate, they just don't have to feel the government's on their side, yaknow?

Thank you.

[BoyInBOYCOTT]

Coretta King and Andrew Young had/have the moral authority to compare LGBT Human Rights to the Civil Rights Movement...and did so DECADES ago.

[Adele Stan - Huffpost Blogger]

Alas, Coretta Scott King has passed from the scene, and Andrew Young no longer has half the clout he once did.

[BoyInBOYCOTT]

"Andrew Young no longer has half the clout he once did."

Maybe to YOU
When he appears at Equality Alabama, and appeared AT THE MARCH, he commanded respect.

[BoyInBOYCOTT]

moral authority isn't CLOUT.....you have moral authority cuz you EARNED IT, it ain't a popularity contest

[edwarvir]

I love my President with all my heart,
bMut he could not be comparing what we
went through to the Gay rights movement.
Their is NO COMPARISON AT ALL.

[Joe Moore]

Really? Because Coretta King believed there were. Guess you know better than her huh?

[LintLass]

The bigotry comes from the same places, and often uses the very same tactics and rhetoric. They just changed targets.

LBGT people have been through different kinds of oppression, though historically for a much longer time.

It's hardly a *perfect* comparison, but people who say there is *none* also tend to be in denial of just how bad things were and still are for a lot of LBGT people. They tend to ignore the Holocaust, for one: for another, they tend to ignore the beatings, that it's perfectly legal to discriminate against us in much of the country, that we live with certain amounts of fear of random violence over who we are, we've got churches and politicians trying to bust up our families, take our property, incite hatred against us, not to mention constant degradation of our human dignity based on ugly stereotypes, cops and often communities who really don't care if we're lynched, the government as a whole at *best* negotiating about *how* human we are...

There is plenty of comparison. If you'd been through some of what we have, it'd look pretty darn familiar to you, too.

[nicole473]

I completely agree. It is preposterous.

[MoeB]

I think the struggle is the same, if the particulars are not...for it is not about the particulars, but about the mentality that brings about these situations.

I feel EXACTLY the same when I'm discriminated against for being gay as I am when it happens because I'm black. The emotion is the same, even if the particulars are not.

[JackNasty]

Please, cut the only black suffer from discrimination nonsense. African Americans don't have a monopoly on discrimination.

• Gay men and women were and still are rejected by their own families. African Americans were never disowned by their families because they were black.

• Gay people were cast out from the schools, churches and circles of friends. African Americans always had their schools, friends and churches

• Gay men and women were locked up for life in insane asylums for being gay. African Americans were not.

• Gay men and women were convicted of violating sodomy laws and locked up as criminals and even executed for being gay.

• It's 2009, African Americans have been protected from discrimination by state and federal laws since 1964. Gay men and women are fighting to repeal laws that require federal and state governments to discriminate against us.

• Gay men and women are still fired from their jobs just for being gay and in most of the US they have no legal recourse.

• Gay men and women are still being discharged from the military because they are gay.

• Gay men and women are not free to marry their partners in all but six states.

So, the next time you feel the urge repeat that that "gay people haven't suffered from discrimination like black people", think of what you have just read and how ridiculous and offensive the comment you are about to make is.

[sherbug]

I don't think Obama should have compared gay rights to the civil rights movement of the '60s. The gay community has already decided that they will blame all their ills and failures on the AA community. Many gays are as racist as you please and now Obama has given them another outlet for their hatred of blacks.

Blacks are not responsible for the failures of gays. If blacks do not support gays because of their religious beliefs or for whatever reason, then gays will be out in force with their hateful rhetoric.

[Adele Stan - Huffpost Blogger]

I agree that there is a problem with the pale complexion of the leadership of major LGBT organizations. Definitely needs fixing. But there are plenty of black LGBT people who would also like to have their rights. Space needs to be made in both the LGBT community and the African-American community for acceptance and inclusion of African-Americans who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

[sherbug]

Interesting that you should mention AAs in the gay community. During the uproar about Rev. Warren, I read many posts by AA gays and lesbians who complained about racial prejudice against them in their own community.

I find that highly offensive that a group of people who are discriminated against would turn around and harbor racial prejudices against blacks all the while claiming to march under the flag of the black civil rights movement.

It is because of the black civil rights movement that there are laws that can be expanded to encompass the specific prejudices experienced by another minority group. So when white gays and lesbians come out against blacks while equating their struggle with that of blacks, it leaves a bad taste.

As minorities blacks and gays or all races should stand with each other and not against. The struggle still continues for all minorities.

[LintLass]

LBGT people of color often get a double-whammy from both society at large and often their own communities as well. Certainly if black leaders speaking as 'civil rights' leaders are out there saying, 'It demeans us for you to presume to want to be equal, too,' it doesn't improve sentiments.

But in some ways, more is made of this by people who would seek to divide us as presumptive Democrat-leaning people than it really is by the community.

African Americans who are *not* homophobic are often silenced (as far as the press is concerned) by those who are. People who are trying to use fundamentalist Christianity to get in on some of that power and influence find it pretty convenient to say 'LBGT people are just affluent decadent sinning white people trying to degrade us by their mere presence in the world.'

We should *not* let certain figures in the media and provocateurs on the Net so colonize our perceptions of each other.

The rhetoric shifts around, but the bigots' faces never change.

LBGT people have often through out our lives been told to 'wait our turn' as regards racial components of civil rights. And respected that where it made sense. Supported racial equality. Where there are in fact differences, it's pretty obvious.

But now it's *our* turn. We've been waiting a long time.

[cleveyucks]

Wow! Obama used words! I guess we're done here. Everyone can go home now.

[Tanyars5]

The gay movement today reminds me of the teabaggers. A mostly white privilege lot of people complaining about the President. It is not clear what they are complaining about. The President has addressed specifically gay people TWICE about their issues. They are still not satisfied.
I as an AA am disturbed at the constant pandering this President is doing to a group that is continually disrespectful to his adminstration. 97% of AA's who cast a ballot voted for this President. Many white Dems got into office on the coattails of the President. It is time for the Dem Party to do the RIGHT thing and specifically help AA's.
AA's have the highest unemployment in this country and AA's males are being targeted by law enforcement and put into jails/and or killed. Housing, healthcare, and economic disparities are beyond the pale for AA's.
President Obama u will not satisfy these people no matter what u do. Please help out a group of people who actually need your help and would APPRECIATE the help.

[PlaceboStudman]

I have to ask, because you make a good point, in the absence of help from The Administration, what can the average "guy on the street" do to help the cause to improve conditions for AA's?

[Tanyars5]

Hi Place, I really don't know what the man on the street can do. I personally belong to the NAACP and do things thru them. I try to get Blacks elected to the school board etc.
Presidnet Obama can actually help Black people at a federal level. Eric Holder is the key to getting changes in law enforcement.
I am not against gay rights. You know living in Northeast Ohio what the climate is like when it comes to gay rights. It is not going to happen in Ohio.
Place- I am currently watching Keith Olberman and this is the stuff that drives me insane. Why are gay people still pushing this junk? Dan Savage a gay man who has spoken ill of AA's. Why is he on national TV? Complain complain complain why should the Presidnet even try.
Also that lady gaga screaming at the President like a crazy person.....that was over the top.
Place I hope u are well and u are ok with me even though we disagree.