Theoretical "BREAKING NEWS": California votes to ban interracial marriage

[Lyric]

(AP: Sacramento) In a move that has sent ripples of shock around the nation, California voters approved "Proposition 8" by a narrow margin Tuesday night, thus amending the California state constitution to forbid interracial marriage. The text of Proposition 8 reads:

"Shall the California Constitution be changed to eliminate the right of certain couples to marry providing that no marriage between a person of the white race and a person of any other race is valid or recognized in California?"

The controversial amendment was widely expected to fail, as pre-election polling indicated a slight lead in voters who opposed the amendment. Massive protests have already begun on a nationwide level, with over 300,000 marchers taking to the streets of New York City alone. Large protests have also occurred in the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Boston, and Washington D.C.

The proposition was heavily sponsored by the LDS (Mormon) church, with millions of dollars imported from Utah to help the amendment pass, as well as a myriad of other groups that included the Aryan Nations, the Neo-Nazi Party, the Ku Klux Klan, and certain conservative churches from Louisiana, Texas, and Georgia. Racially-diverse groups of protesters have gathered around Mormon temples, white Southern Baptist churches, Aryan compounds, and government buildings across the country, holding hands, carrying signs, and blocking traffic. Fifteen people were arrested in Bakersfield, California for blocking an intersection by handcuffing themselves together in a line that spanned the street while holding signs opposing the measure.

President-Elect Barack Obama held a press conference within hours of the amendment's passage, stating that "This kind of divisiveness borne of hate and fear has no place in America. The Obama administration will take every possible step to remedy this gross miscarriage of justice." Joining him on stage, twenty-three Democratic U.S. Senators stood in solidarity, vowing to fight the implementation of Proposition 8 with every resource available.

In the blogosphere, liberal websites DailyKos and DemocraticUnderground (DU) were swamped with individuals decrying the "hateful" Proposition 8. Thousands upon thousands of members posted solidarity messages to non-white citizens and vowed to march against the amendment in two massive protests currently being organized by the ACLU for Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. Donations from liberal websites to Anti-Proposition 8 organizations started pouring in shortly after the amendment's victory became clear.

"It's blatantly unconstitutional," said DU member Oktoberain, who opposes Proposition 8. "It doesn't matter if their religion tells them that it's wrong. In America, nobody's religion is allowed to become the law. The First Amendment guarantees this."

DailyKos member ThinkBlue1966 agreed, saying "Not only is this an obvious insertion of religion into secular law, it's also a violation of the 14th Amendment's requirement that the government treat all citizens equally under the law."

Viewpoints on the other side of the issue were just as intense.

"The Bible tells us the story of Cain," stated Mormon activist David (surname withheld by request.) "The descendants of Cain are the brown-skinned people of today. They are being punished by God, and it would be against Heavenly Father's will to allow them to mix their blood with ours."

Another Proposition 8 advocate who asked to remain nameless argued that non-whites still have the right to marry. "They just can't marry white people. If they want to get married, let them marry each other. Why do they think they deserve 'special rights?'"

National broadcast networks and media outlets have scheduled intense coverage of the aftermath of the election, with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann hosting an unusual morning "Special Comment" show about the decision.

Final vote counts on the measure are still pending.

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

Many people have asked, "What can we do? What is the next step? Where do we go from here?"
Just imagine what you, personally, would do if the above article were true. Then do it.

Freedom taken away from one group of people is freedom taken away from us ALL.
Equality denied to one group of people is equality denied to EVERYONE.

Don't wait for "the right moment."
The moment is NOW.

FREEDOM NOW. LIBERTY NOW. EQUALITY NOW.

:dem:

[LARED]

1. I've not been following closely but can someone explain

how prop 8 became a racial issue?

Thanks in advance

[Lyric]

2. It isn't. This is an analogy.

*sigh*

[LARED]

3. The analogy part I get, but I've been

seeing a lot of back and forth regarding prop 8 and racism, that I've not paid attention to, and was wondering if someone could clue me in.

[jonnyblitz]

4. because a poll taken and various news organizations have

reported that a good chunk of the AA community in California voted FOR prop 8 and many DUers are calling the gay community racist for pointing this out. they came out and voted for Obama and Yes on 8. this is taboo to talk about apparently because we are "scapegoating the african american community" by acknowledging this information. many others will charactarize this situation differently than me. :shrug:

[LARED]

6. Thanks, now I understand why I didn't understand without

paying closer attention. What a completely dumb ass thing to argue about.

[Pharlo]

10. I know, in the general scheme of things, it's irrelevant;

but, I wish people could find a different acronym for African Americans other than 'AA'. Every time I see that, I wonder how it is that members of Alcoholics Anonymous don't have larger personal issues in their lives than whether or not gay couples can get married. Maybe it's just me, but every time I see 'AA' in this context I have to stop and consciously remind myself that it's a different acronym. A personal peeve, I'm sure, but confusing nonetheless. And, as I said, completely irrelevant in the general scheme of things.

[peacebird]

5. In my lifetime there were bans against interracial marriage - they were overcome. Same sex marriage

will also overcome this setback and become legal in my lifetime. I am absolutely convinced of this. When I was a little girl there were Jim Crow signs and the KKK was blatant. Blacks could not vote.

We now have a black President.

Young people like my son are politically active now - many for the first time ever. The majority of them see gay rights = equal rights, just like we do.

It will happen. There is a backlash now, like there was when MLK and his followers began pushing for equal rights. Change is not easy, but it will come.

Right now I am going to savor the sweet victory of this election. Have faith - equal rights for all is coming.

[Lyric]

7. I do have faith.

But the most important thing is for people to take action. My point with the above analogy was just to give a concrete example of what "action" might look like if we were talking about a state banning interracial marriage. I think we can all agree that the outrage would be *enormous*, and so would the level of action.

Without that level of action, it's going to take a very long time for GLBT Americans to have their rights finally respected. I am literally on my knees begging for help from those who believe that families like mine deserve equality. There aren't enough of us to do this alone...we need allies badly. I see a lot of verbal encouragement, but not nearly enough tangible action. I guess that's what I'm hoping for--that the analogy will help people see how much we *could* be doing for the cause of equality. 3000 people marching in a California city is awesome, but 30,000 or 300,000 would be much, much more effective. 3000 voices is a shout. 300,000 voices is a deafening roar.

And thank you.

:hug:

[peacebird]

8. I live in Cville. If there is a sister march here I assure you I will be in it. Is anyone trying to

arrange simultaneous marches across the country in support of equal rights for all? That sort of action might get media attention needed to bring about change?

:grouphug:

[Lyric]

9. There are small marches going on, but nothing big yet.

I'm kinda hoping we can spur something along. I'd love nothing more than to see millions of people nationwide taking to the streets in protest. Maybe that would wake up our Dem leaders, and let them know that their constituents are demanding more of them than lip service and dodging the issue.

I'm going to try and get something started at my university this week. Thank you for being so supportive.

:hug: