When Booker T. Washington died in 1915 America remained segregated and lynching was the nation’s past time. Despite this, Washington continued to hold on to a realistic optimism concerning the country’s future. He was no fool He understood there was a long way to go–he spent the last year of his life ensnared in a scandal only because he was a black man being accused by whites— but optimism was how he made it through the days. This worldview was based on a number of things, but what pushed him was the belief that the argument for racial tolerance could resonate with our “better angels.”
I thought of Washington after reading Michael Joseph Gross’ cover story for The Advocate. If you go there looking for some Obama bashing prepare to be disappointed. Gross does that rather effectively, but he also wonders where the LGBT community is. Why are we willing to howl like mad about gay rights but unwilling to put any meaningful effort about gaining those very rights?
“The national gay rights movement is trapped between activism and politics, between anger and ambition. We are trapped between wanting equal rights and wanting to get invited to parties at the White House.”
It would be unfair for me to brutally reduce Gross work so go read it yourself but expect to be challenged. Yes Obama disappoints thus far on so many levels, but he warned us during the campaign that the heavy lifting was all us. Here is candidate Obama in a sit down with The Advocate’s Kerry Eleveld:
“I don’t think that the gay and lesbian community, the LGBT community, should take its cues from me or some political leader in terms of what they think is right for them.”
Sure giving the White House grief is more than necessary when it drops the ball. If I were a betting man I’m willing to think they expect it, but lets get our stuff in order. We need to find those groups that best represent our interests and give them volunteer time. This is no call for some mass movement because our community is way too diverse for that to be effective. It is a call for us to get a bit more serious about the topics we believe in. By serious I don’t mean what some of you nutty “keyboard revolutionaries” throw out (calling female political opponents dogs, yapping about the burning of churches, blah, blah, blah). Lets increase our volunteer time, compose position papers, take charge of booths, send letters to our representatives, plan demonstrations, etc., etc. All of this work needs to be done with our happy warrior faces because the tide is in our favor. To steal from another American great, Frederick Douglass, lets “Agitate! Agitate! Agitate!”
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