Wednesday, July 01, 2015

You DO NOT speak for African-Americans, Mike Huckabee

Nobody asked Huckabee to speak for black folks.
Dear Mike Huckabee,

I heard your recent comments about how comparing the gay civil rights movement to the African-American civil rights movement is offensive to black people. I want to get right to the chase with my questions about those comments.

From me, a gay black man, to you - just who in the hell do you think you are and who in the hell designated you as the spokesman for black people in terms of what offends us?


Furthermore, how dare you appoint yourself the person who decides what is or isn't discrimination. How dare you conjure images of the nightmarish past of segregation,  water hoses, and racial beatings as sort of a whip to beat lgbts in some type of psychological mindset that it's not "real discrimination" when our families are devalued or our lives are reduced to caricatures.

 Who gave you the right to disrespect the spirit of the African-American civil rights movement by using it as a tool to justify discrimination another group? How dare you besmirch the memories of all the nameless, faceless lgbts of color who had to deal with the double stigmatization of racism and homophobia.

Mr. Huckabee (thank God in Heaven I will never have to call you "President Huckabee"), I am a 44-year-old gay black man. I've been called a "nigger" and I've been called a "faggot." I've been threatened because I'm black and chased down the street by thugs wanting to beat my head in because I'm gay.

Since you know every damn thing to the point where you can speak for folks, please inform me as to what is the difference between those incidents.  Was I supposed to be less fearful of those who called me "nigger" than those who called me "faggot?"  Would have I had less to worry about regarding those who wanted to harm me because I am black than those who wanted to harm me because I'm gay?

I think I speak for a great majority of lgbts of color when I say don't you dare take it upon yourself to be so presumptuous about black people and especially us. We are not specimens on a lab table. You can't dissect, detach, or eliminate the "gay" from me nor any other lgbts of color so don't pretend as if we don't exist.

I am proudly black and gay, but one thing I am not is stupid. I know your type. You care about neither the black or gay communities. Based on your past history, you despise the lgbt community and you only care about the black community when you can use them for your own purposes.

Seriously, where are you on black issues? Don't think black people forgot your non-answer regarding the Confederate flag. On that same note, what is your record on other issues regarding the African-American community?

Don't use the black community and the gay community as pieces on a chess board. That IS offensive. And in the future, educate yourself about the common history of being black and gay in America.

But really the next time you feel the need to speak FOR black people, don't. Please don't. We have enough folks speaking out of their asses in an attempt to talk on our behalf.



5 comments:

Erica Cook said...

In regards to your comment on the history of being black and gay in America, that is a book I'd read. I'd say you have a new project.

Unknown said...

The only time I would compare LGBT and black discrimination is to point out that skin color and sexual-orientation are intrinsic parts of the human condition. Unchangeable and fixed - with the caveat that many in the black community DON'T feel that way

Every time I hear them say you can’t compare the two types of discrimination, I feel insulted because I would never have any intention of doing so, other than what I stated above. I’m tempted to say that’s what they don’t “get,” then again, we’re too stupid to know what real love is, so maybe they do think we’re comparing our plight with slavery.

I would say that the mass removal of confederate flags has brought new light to the existence of ugliness of racism that still flies high. And would say that when all is said and done, heterosupremacy will be seen as being just as ugly as racism and heterosupremacists, just as hateful as racists. They’re both supremacism.

Is that distinction clear enough and the comparison fair enough? If not, tell me, because it might end up in a letter to the editor.

I’m also glad you brought up the fact that there are gay African Americans, not that I don't know that but it can be easy to miss. As though any demographic is one homogenes unvaried mass. Except for those rapist, drug importing, cantaloupe calved Mexicans, only “some” of whom are “good.”

I thought those stats that Trump is in 2nd place were jokes, last I heard they were real?!?

Glenn Ingersoll said...

Mike Huckabee speaks for God, don't you know. Once you've taken on that job, speaking for everybody else is a cinch. You can speak for mountains, you can speak for ancient mariners, you can speak for little girls in Iceland. With total authority. Cuz you know everything God knows, don't you know.

steevee said...

One of your best comments. Huckabee sure likes to hear himself speak, and he rarely has anything intelligent to say.

Anonymous said...

as a gay Canadian, where we've had the right to marry for a decade, I was thrilled to see SCOTUS make the right decision. that being said, the more of your next election and the seemingly endless parade of brain-dead yahoos that want to run a country don't seem to get that gay people ARE part of the country...between this asshat and the polyester-hair wearing ego freak I'm staring to think that maybe we need to build a wall just to keep the STUPID HATE from drifting north. don't ever stop your blog, because the only news I trust out of the states is this blog and Jon Stewart.