Race, Gays, Morals & Money

I read so many interesting things in the news today, I just have to share them with you. Not all of them are pretty, but attention needs to be paid never the less. First up out of Boston and the Globe, there was an article about the Tufts University administration blasting the student satire journal "The Primary Source" for its Christmas satire "O Come All Ye Black Folk" ostensibly to criticize the administrations affirmative action policy. It instead raise the specter of racism once again. President Lawrence S. Bacow expressed his outrage stating "It is antithetical to Tufts University's efforts to establish a community of learning." Well said Mr. President, there is no room for this kind of hate speech disguised as humor, especially in a university setting that is supposed to foster diversity through inclusion.

As long as we are discussing prickly subjects, let us turn our attention to an organization using the misnomer Accuracy In Media in which columnist Andy Selepak writes "Washington Post Denigrates Civil Rights Movement" in which he brings them to task for equating the fight for gay marriage rights as being equivalent to the fight for black civil rights. His view of accuracy in the media does not include any one or any thing that does not conform to the conservative agenda of exclusion. He quotes Martin Luther King, Jr. in his "I have a dream" speech where he dreams people will not be "judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." He then makes the point that character is made up of our choices, that color is not a choice, but homosexuality is. I could not disagree with his conclusion more.

Meanwhile in the heartland, an anonymous reader takes writer Leonard Pitts, who is black, to task for covering gay issues concluding Mr. Pitts must be secretly gay which he is not. However he does believe the "Moral issue is the same on Race, Gays" whereby in his article he convincingly makes his belief understandable. I quote "I'm not here to argue sexuality. I just find myself intrigued by the idea that if you're not gay, you shouldn't care about gay rights.The most concise answer I can give is cribbed from what a white kid said 40 or so years ago, as white college students were risking their lives to travel South and register black people to vote. Somebody asked why. He said he acted from an understanding that his freedom was bound up with the freedom of every other man. I know it sounds cornier than Kellogg's, but that's pretty much how I feel." That is a conclusion I can agree with and do to the depths of my soul. All of our freedom is interconnected one with another, either we stand together as humans for civil rights for all, or we end up in civil war over bigotry and hatred. We saw where that got us once before and it took more than 100 years to finally end. Do we have another 100 years to waste?
I think NOT!

Turning to the religious arena The Seattle Times ran an article on the widening rift in the Episcopal church over the role of gays in the church. The article tells about the two old line churches in Virginia voting to divorce themselves from the Anglican community headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and joining themselves to the group headed by the Archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola, a ultra conservative and outspoken opponent of homosexual rights. The article also indicates the Anglican communities intention to fight to retain ownership of the churches' historic properties valued at $27 million. Why does religion, like politics, always come down to money? As I stated in an earlier post, if the religious people would adhere to the tenets of their faith, this would not be a problem.

Returning to the east coast, religion rears its ugly side at a Worcester, Mass. rally and counter protest on the gay marriage issue as cited in this article at 365Gay.com where the leader of a Boston based Catholic Citizen group, Larry Cirignano, beat a woman who was carrying a sign stating "No discrimination in the Constitution". The woman, Sarah Loy, who is straight and a supporter of gay marriage, went to the protest with her husband. After leaving the podium and beating on Loy, Cirignano returned to the podium demanding the inclusion of an amendment to ban gay marriage be put on the ballot. Where is the love, Larry? Are you afraid of allowing all people the right to love the person of their choice? Step back and take a look to see if you are adhering to the tenets of your faith and practicing it in your actions.

I can only conclude that those in opposition to the inclusion of LGBT people in all civil rights are losing the battle and are in full retreat while brutally fighting a desperate delaying action. Let us pray they lose the will to fight soon as the damage they are doing to America may yet doom this country to yet another scenario like unto 1861. That I fear.

On a more personal level, I have a hearing in my battle with the Texas Workforce Commission over my being granted the privilege of drawing unemployment compensation which my former employer is opposing. This too is a fight for what is right and I am but one lone voice against the dollars of a multinational corporation and the bureaucracy of the State of Texas. Say a little prayer for me tonight that I may emerge victorious from the fray.

In closing, let me say a word of thanks to my loyal readers for your support and welcome the new readers of Nichevo to the fold as my readership has increased almost 50% in the last week or so and I am so glad that you have discovered us here. I hope you like the revamped look and the inclusion of music. Be sure to post a comment or an email to let me know what you think and continue to cast your ballot in the header photo poll in the sidebar. If you have suggestions for sites to be included in the Google Custom search engine Nichevo' Niches please make them known to me so that I may include them. So until next time as always, Enjoy!