ZacFields
11-07-2008, 03:36 PM
Let me preface this by saying that this writing is not about the election. I am an American and a Patriot, and as such I will stand behind Barack Obama until he has given me reason not to, regardless of my own personal political beliefs or stances. I stand by my statement that if Obama is successful, then we all win. Wishing for anything other than success for Mr. Obama is like wishing for your own personal failure.
I'd like to call into question whether or not the election of Barack Obama is truly a step in the right direction for racism and gay rights. I am not a racist person or a homophobic person, and that is the reason why I am bringing this topic to light. One of the worst things a society can do is BELIEVE they've taken a step forward when truly they've taken a step back.
The Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles gave 1,200 respondants anonymous, self-administered surveys to inquire about who they voted for and various questions as to what issues caused them to vote that way. The two questions asked in these surveys that I want to bring to your attention are as follows:
1. In the Presidential election, for whom did you vote today?
2. How did you vote on the following: Prop. 8, Eliminates Right of
Same-Sex Couples to Marry. Initiative Constitutional Amendment?
For the first question, a whopping 96% of African Americans voted for Barack Obama compared to 3% who voted for John McCain. Let that sink in for just a moment. What does this say about racism in America? Racism is defined as a "hatred or intolerance of other races." Racism doesn't simply have to be white-to-black, it can also be the other way around. What kinds of questions would arise if 96% of White voters voted AGAINST Barack Obama? That would raise a huge issue of racism, but in my opinion, 96% of black voters voting for Obama represents a racism of the kind that goes ignored in our country. There were millions of black voters who had previously never voted before in their lives who registered to vote simply to vote for Barack Obama.
Now, for those of you who are upset at the results of the Prop 8 voting in California (as I happen to be), you may have Barack Obama to blame for that as well. Millions of newly-registered voters voted Obama this year, and many of them were African American voters as previously mentioned. Sans my last point, this is a great thing and I hope all of these voters show up to vote in the next election. However, here are the results of the second question, "How did you vote on the following: Prop. 8..."
Of the white voter respondants, an astonishing 75% voted NO on Prop. 8 to only 18% voting YES. So why was it passed? Probably because 50% of the hispanic population and 47% of the black population voted YES on Prop 8. Of those two populations, 11% of the hispanic population and 13% of the black population didn't even respond to the question. Since the measure was passed, effectively 61% of the Hispanic voters and 60% of black voters helped to pass Proposition 8.
My conclusion? Barack Obama's campaign brought over nine million previously unregistered voters to the booths on November 4th. Many of them went to the booths for the wrong reasons, such as voting for someone based on their race. Barack Obama won the election, however, when uninformed voters hit the booths, things like Prop. 8 get passed because these voters don't know any better... they only came to the booth to vote for the President. Gay marriage was banned in every state that it was voted on in this election.
According to the exit polls in Los Angeles, now you may know why. If you don't believe me that the newly-registered voters largely defined themselves as Democrats, the Associated Press reports that in the 6 months prior to the election, newly registered Democrats outnumbered newly registered Republicans by a margin of 4 to 1.
Next time, let's preach that all voters become informed before hitting the booths. Not just about the President they're voting for, but the issues such as gay rights as well.
(Again, please do not take this note as racist propoganda. These are facts gathered from http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/T ... 2ED7CF1%7D (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/The-Leavey-Center-Study-Los/story.aspx?guid=%7B074DCD71-FB68-4880-BFB6-6EAF82ED7CF1%7D) in a very unbiased article that only reported the results of their findings. I am not racist, and I support gay rights. Homosexuals all over the country were shocked this past Wednesday to find out that gay marriage was banned in every state that included it on the ballot, when the overwhelming expectation was that the results would be the other way around. In the next election, everyone should be campaigning that only informed voters should vote in the election. Regardless of my opinions on the president that was elected, millions of gay and lesbian couples were done an injustice on November 4th. Did the newly registered, uninformed voters have a hand in that? You bet!)
I'd like to call into question whether or not the election of Barack Obama is truly a step in the right direction for racism and gay rights. I am not a racist person or a homophobic person, and that is the reason why I am bringing this topic to light. One of the worst things a society can do is BELIEVE they've taken a step forward when truly they've taken a step back.
The Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles gave 1,200 respondants anonymous, self-administered surveys to inquire about who they voted for and various questions as to what issues caused them to vote that way. The two questions asked in these surveys that I want to bring to your attention are as follows:
1. In the Presidential election, for whom did you vote today?
2. How did you vote on the following: Prop. 8, Eliminates Right of
Same-Sex Couples to Marry. Initiative Constitutional Amendment?
For the first question, a whopping 96% of African Americans voted for Barack Obama compared to 3% who voted for John McCain. Let that sink in for just a moment. What does this say about racism in America? Racism is defined as a "hatred or intolerance of other races." Racism doesn't simply have to be white-to-black, it can also be the other way around. What kinds of questions would arise if 96% of White voters voted AGAINST Barack Obama? That would raise a huge issue of racism, but in my opinion, 96% of black voters voting for Obama represents a racism of the kind that goes ignored in our country. There were millions of black voters who had previously never voted before in their lives who registered to vote simply to vote for Barack Obama.
Now, for those of you who are upset at the results of the Prop 8 voting in California (as I happen to be), you may have Barack Obama to blame for that as well. Millions of newly-registered voters voted Obama this year, and many of them were African American voters as previously mentioned. Sans my last point, this is a great thing and I hope all of these voters show up to vote in the next election. However, here are the results of the second question, "How did you vote on the following: Prop. 8..."
Of the white voter respondants, an astonishing 75% voted NO on Prop. 8 to only 18% voting YES. So why was it passed? Probably because 50% of the hispanic population and 47% of the black population voted YES on Prop 8. Of those two populations, 11% of the hispanic population and 13% of the black population didn't even respond to the question. Since the measure was passed, effectively 61% of the Hispanic voters and 60% of black voters helped to pass Proposition 8.
My conclusion? Barack Obama's campaign brought over nine million previously unregistered voters to the booths on November 4th. Many of them went to the booths for the wrong reasons, such as voting for someone based on their race. Barack Obama won the election, however, when uninformed voters hit the booths, things like Prop. 8 get passed because these voters don't know any better... they only came to the booth to vote for the President. Gay marriage was banned in every state that it was voted on in this election.
According to the exit polls in Los Angeles, now you may know why. If you don't believe me that the newly-registered voters largely defined themselves as Democrats, the Associated Press reports that in the 6 months prior to the election, newly registered Democrats outnumbered newly registered Republicans by a margin of 4 to 1.
Next time, let's preach that all voters become informed before hitting the booths. Not just about the President they're voting for, but the issues such as gay rights as well.
(Again, please do not take this note as racist propoganda. These are facts gathered from http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/T ... 2ED7CF1%7D (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/The-Leavey-Center-Study-Los/story.aspx?guid=%7B074DCD71-FB68-4880-BFB6-6EAF82ED7CF1%7D) in a very unbiased article that only reported the results of their findings. I am not racist, and I support gay rights. Homosexuals all over the country were shocked this past Wednesday to find out that gay marriage was banned in every state that included it on the ballot, when the overwhelming expectation was that the results would be the other way around. In the next election, everyone should be campaigning that only informed voters should vote in the election. Regardless of my opinions on the president that was elected, millions of gay and lesbian couples were done an injustice on November 4th. Did the newly registered, uninformed voters have a hand in that? You bet!)