5 Things The LGBT Community Can Learn From The Black Civil Rights Movement
Montgomery, Alabama Bus Boycott 1956
It seems our post yesterday Why Black People Don’t Like It When White Gays Co-opt the Black Civil Rights Movement, got some folks riled up. That wasn’t our intention, however. We just felt the time had come to distinguish the two movements—the black civil rights battle and the current LGBT quest for civil rights and why the movements most drastically differ in almost every way.
In the comment section of the post (which we encourage everyone to read because there are some great points brought up by individuals who did not necessarily agree wholeheartedly with our opinion) we applauded LGBT activist Robin McGehee for her respectful usage of the black civil rights movement as example in encouraging LGBTs to get active as well in terms of civil disobedience.
In addition to Miss McGehee’s urgings we thought we’d add to that with some thoughts and ideas on other ways the current LGBT rights movement could benefit from the black civil rights movement in terms of successful tactical actions and strategy. To criticize the movement without offering solution would be irresponsible and uncool. We do not want to follow in the footsteps of other LGBT bloggers who offer abundant complaint yet do not encourage empowerment and action items to their community. Here’s our list of 5 things the LGBT community can learn from the black civil rights movement:
1. CREATE OWN LEADERSHIP
President Barack Obama is NOT the leader of this nation’s LGBT rights movement. This bears repeating: President Barack Obama is NOT the leader of this nation’s LGBT rights movement. This confusion of sorts we feel is probably the most damaging of all misguided thinking in the LGBT community in terms of civil rights. Here’s a little known secret: President Barack Obama is not gay. Not only that, he already has his civil rights. So it makes sense that from a personal take on things there’s just no sense of breakneck urgency on his behalf—-not at the speed apparently some LGBTs would like him to have. And that’s probably because he’s not personally affected by a lack of civil rights.
When we bring this up in discussion with some gay folks, they actually get outraged. They tend to insist that Obama is in fact our leader and therefore SHOULD act in the interests of LGBTs as such. We don’t understand their thinking. After all, Ghandi led the Indian people—–not the British government. Caesar Chavez led the migrant farm workers—-not the farmers. Martin Luther King led Southern blacks—-not Kennedy or President Johnson.
The leadership in each of the movements just outlined share a commonality: they all had a personal investment in the change their communities sought. They themselves were part of the oppressed.
If the LGBT community wants things to pick up at a faster pace, the LGBT community needs to create its own leader or leadership. The failure to do so rests solely and squarely on the LGBT community. President Obama has nothing to do with that failure.
2. LEAD AND THE GOVT WILL FOLLOW
This is another huge point of confusion when it comes to activism and LGBT civil rights. Waiting for the government to act on civil rights is not only self-sabotaging, it’s just plain stupid. Unfortunately the LGBT blogging community has hypnotized the nation’s LGBT community into thinking that this is the way to go. Nothing could be further from the truth. LGBT’s must act FIRST. Black Alabamans did not wait for the local public transit system to give them the right to sit anywhere on public busses. Those people went on boycott until the bus system changed its policy of making blacks sit on the back of the bus. Southern blacks also did not wait for Jim Crow laws to be abolished and voted away. No. Instead they conducted sit-ins, boycotts and other various civil disobedience tactics putting themselves at grave risk in most cases therefore arousing the nation’s sympathy and support. Hence, laws were changed within a fairly reasonable timeframe.
3. SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP SHOULD BE AT FOREFRONT OF MOVEMENT
While this is not absolutely necessary it certainly helps as demonstrated by the black civil rights movement and the highly visible roles of black spiritual leaders in that movement. While MLK was the most famous of these leaders, he most certainly wasn’t the only one. A big chunk of the success of the movement lent itself to black clergy encouraging their congregations to participate in the civil rights movement.
The LGBT community on the other hand has done very little so far in promoting or taking advantage of LGBT spiritual leaders or allies like Catholic priest Father Geoff Farrow, and how someone like him could add to the momentum of the LGBT rights movement.
4. NON-VIOLENT CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AND BOYCOTT STRATEGIES AIMED TO CRIPPLE AN ECONOMY
Nothing breaks the back of the oppressor faster than hitting their wallets. This was best demonstrated by protesting blacks with the Montgomery Alabama bus boycott by those who tired of being forced to sit on the back of the bus. The reason why the bus company caved in and changed its segregation rule was because it was hurting financially. It could no longer afford to maintain the same racist policy and stay in business. There are so many opportunities available where the LGBT community can mobilize to do the same. And it’s effective.
5. BE WILLING TO RISK TREMENDOUS PERSONAL LOSS
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: a civil rights battle cannot be won from a comfort zone. It’s not gonna happen. LGBTs can bitch and moan and complain about Obama and everyone else until the cows come home. But if the LGBT community is not willing to put itself on the line, don’t expect too much change in terms of civil rights for that community. Yea, you might get a crumb thrown at you—the current scenario with Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. But that’s about it.
During the black civil rights movement black citizens, allies and activists where subject to untold atrocities and assaults, homes torched, many killed. The business of civil rights is serious business in the United States. That has not changed since the black civil rights movement. Fighting a civil rights war is not for sissies. You need to be willing to die for what you believe in.
If LGBTs don’t want it handed to them piecemeal then you’ve got to show that you don’t want it piecemeal. And that means sit-ins at the risk of being arrested and other actions that could put one’s person at risk. Time held mantra for civil rights battles: NO PAIN NO GAIN.
The LGBT civil rights journey is no exception to this.
Possibly Related Posts:
- DC Blacks, People Of Color, First In Line To Seek Same Sex Marriage Licenses
- In Fight For Same Sex Marriage DC Blacks Show California How It’s Done
- Now You Too Can Talk To Your Favorite Negros About LGBT Rights
- The Black Gay Male Pledge of Allegiance
- Homophobia In The Black Church Yields Superstars: Rev. Irene Moore Debates With DC’s Bishop Harry Jackson
4 February, 2010 at 6:15 am
This is great stuff, I am so glad to see this
8 February, 2010 at 1:40 am
About Race, Sexual Orientation and the Fight for Equal Human Rights for All
(Part 1 of 2)
The 1964 Mississippi civil rights workers murders of James Chaney, a 21-year-old black man from Meridian, Mississippi; Andrew Goodman, a 20-year-old white Jewish anthropology student from New York; and Michael Schwerner, a 24-year-old white Jewish CORE organizer and former social worker also from New York, symbolized the risks of participating in the Civil Rights Movement in the South during what became known as "Freedom Summer", dedicated to voter registration. The case also symbolized the extensive participation of Jewish-Americans during the Civil Rights era working in concert with African-Americans.
"The marvelous new militancy that has engulfed the negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers as evidenced by their presence here today have come to realized that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“When it comes to non-blacks who have contributed greatly to the African-American struggle for freedom and equality, the contributions of abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison, John Brown, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Levi Coffin, sometimes called "the president of the Underground Railroad", are often recognized. Last year, the nation revisited Abraham Lincoln's legacy during the bicentennial celebration of his birth. Still, there were others from that era and beyond who were no less dedicated but remain largely unacknowledged. Many of them are found here.”
Slideshow: White Americans who made black history http://www.thegrio.com/black-history/slideshow-wh...
As one who “came of age” in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, I lived through the assassinations of Dr. King and Robert Kennedy, the civil rights struggles, the Vietnam War, the birth of the women’s liberation and gay rights movements and much more. More significantly, for over 40 years I’ve been more than an observer. I have been an active fighter for equal human rights for all. AS a result, I know that the civil rights movement was the product of cross-racial cooperation, risk and effort.
The Supreme Court Decisions of the 1950’s and the Civil Rights laws of the 1960’s ended at least two forms of discrimination . . . “segregation” against Blacks and “restriction” against Jews. Many have no idea that “restricted” facilities banned Jews from social facilities, accommodations, housing and other places as well as barring them from educational institutions and employment. The “Borscht Belt” was the Jewish equivalent of the “Chittlin Circuit” for Blacks.
I read both “Why Black People Don’t Like It When White Gays Co-opt the Black Civil Rights Movement” and “5 Things The LGBT Community Can Learn From The Black Civil Rights Movement”. I understand feelings underlying the remarks and, for the most part, share irritation and annoyance expressed by the author and persons quoted. Yet I must point out that the Civil Rights movement was not exclusively a “Black” phenomenon in terms of its participants or its beneficiaries. If we lose sight of that, we do a disservice to Dr. King and lose a major element of the progress made . . . including the legitimate links it offers to fully equal human rights for all. That connection was reflected in the words of Coretta Scott King, Reverend Joseph Lowery, Maya Angelou and Andrew Young.
So, while the attempts of some bloggers to connect the civil rights movement and the gay rights movement are inept and flawed in their specifics, the importance of recognizing the greater unifying element that they are both part of a global quest for equal human rights for all . . . To ensure that none of God’s creations are denied his/her God-given rights base on the way the Creator of the Universe made them.
For those reasons, I have serious concerns about parts of the two commentaries and the implicit “we-they” perspective referencing race that leads to many of the feelings described. I suggest that the source of the divide is a much generational as it is racial. I am offend when people of the “younger generations” fail to understand either or both the civil rights’ and gay rights’ struggle and progress from the 1980’s and earlier. When it comes to a lack of personal experience and understanding or an accurate recall of history, my experience has shown that race does not inoculate anyone against ignorance.
I cannot tell you how many times I have been attacked online by young African American “warriors” who clearly believe “if your skin is White, you are the problem.” They neither know nor appreciate the cooperation between people of various races that fueled the civil rights movement. Considering people based upon the “content of their character, not the color of their skin” is a goal and a challenge all human beings must work daily to achieve. So, I could write a piece “Why White People Don’t Like It When (Young) Blacks Delete Whites from the Civil Rights Movement”.
End Part 1 of 2 … continued ….
8 February, 2010 at 1:42 am
About Race, Sexual Orientation and the Fight for Equal Human Rights for All
(Part 2 of 2)
Four suggestions respectfully offered to those working toward full equality for all humanity.
1. There are no valid divisions within the human race. Those who create or perpetuate them regardless of the reason are on the wrong side.
Every human being is an individual who is unique. There is no “way Black people act” or “way White people act”. There is no “way Black people think” or “way White people think”. Even using the word “most” is very dangerous unless you have really reliable research or polling information. It is far better to say “some” or “a number of those I have met”. I strongly urge working from shared needs and goals that all humans have in common and building on those as opposed to dividing by race, gender, sexual orientation, etc and pointing out generalized flaws which do not apply to all people in any group.
2. If you want others to “understand” you, you must “understand” them.
Behaviors and attitudes exist for a reason. Generally, self-preservation and well-being are the original basis of behaviors and attitudes, no matter how inappropriate they may be at the present. Change occurs based on personal experience and decisions not the passage of laws. There are Black people who distrust and dislike White people because they were taught to do so and have not learned to do any differently. There are White people who distrust and dislike Black people because they were taught to do so and have not learned to do any differently. Yes, “by now they should have” but they have not. Only interaction and personal reason to change will make a difference. So, I urge folks to work to “understand” each other while making it clear that “understanding” does not mean condoning bad behavior or inappropriate attitudes.
3. You must consider your own “special circumstances” if you want others to do so.
Back in the early 1970’s, I first learned about the intense, faith-based homophobia in the African American community as a whole and the church in particular. My friend was the son of one of the 12 Presiding Bishops of the Church of God in Christ and was married to the daughter of a major civil rights leader in North Carolina. He was “bisexual” at the time but later divorced and came out. If Black LGBT citizens want the LGBT community to understand and consider the historic homophobia in the African American community and its impact on the ability of so many LGBT folks to be out and open, they need to factor that truth into their expectations of the LGBT community. Specifically, accusations that the small number of Blacks in LGBT Leadership positions results solely from racism are neither accurate nor fair. One cannot be a leader if one is unwilling to be named and photographed for any and all to see. Over the years, there have been African American LGBT leaders. I know them because one was my former partner and many have been my friends. There can be and should be more. Increasing those numbers will depend upon African Americans joining and publicly participating in LGBT action as well as upon all LGBT folks electing them. (BTW This does not excuse current LGBT leaders for failing to be “culturally competent” in their thinking, planning or action!!)
4. You can’t be “included” if you are unapproachable or exclude yourself.
In all aspects of my life, I have made a daily effort to “reach out” and “cross-over” as a means of knowing and including others in my life. When I have done so, I have been welcomed in most cases. That is how an individual translates law into reality. For that reason, I find much of the discussion about “Black this” and “White that” very alien to my reality. Living in the District of Columbia for nearly 32 years also makes a difference in my perception. My “bar” and “club” days are pretty much a thing of the past. However, I have found the most likely form of “exclusion” today is online in “brothers4brothersonly” groups and in “Black bars” where Whites without a “Black escort” are not exactly welcome or at least treated with suspicion. My description is based mostly on observation because I usually went with friends. While I understand why some folks like these “safe havens”, I find them a throw-back to “Whites only” places that I fought to eliminate decades ago.
Returning to my personal experience, I have worked with such diverse and wonderful human beings who have been able to maintain their individual uniqueness and yet come together with others to build a better place and advance the common good. Much has been achieved and much remains to be done. I urge people to learn about and value the past while forging ahead in new and even more effective ways. We cannot afford to devalue or ignore each other. To do so will only harm us as individuals, as a community and as a nation.
I hope my comments help bring people together because that is my intended purpose.
Mark Fischer
Washington, DC