Alveda King (niece to MLK) is enraged that the NAACP has broadened its mission statement to support the freedom to marry for all. Alveda stated, “To equate homosexuality with race is to give a death sentence to civil rights, no one is making them sit in the back of the bus.” With all due respect, Ms. King, for the record, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) did not equate anything to “them!” You are the one grabbing the race card, inserting that mistruth, and attempting to stir-up division! Second Ms. King, please allow me a moment to school you a tad on our “bus.”
Hitler had special concentration camps and protocol for gays where he and his followers ordered and assigned them to the most difficult of all jobs. Twenty-four seven gays were taunted, tortured, prodded, poisoned, stripped, whipped, beaten, used as horrific disfiguring medical experiments, their fingernails pulled, they were starved, went days without water, and had thick splint-filled wooden sticks shoved into their anus and penis until the majority bled to death.
Unfortunately, not much has changed since. All throughout history (including today) gays are taunted, teased, humiliated, tortured, mocked, ridiculed and murdered. A recent article stated that in Iraq gay men’s anuses are super-glued while forced to drink diarrhea inducing liquid resulting in a very slow and painful death. In Jamaica, there is government sanctioned brutal rape to “cure” lesbians. In over 75 countries, gays are imprisoned should they simply live honestly. Many that have (and continue to) assault and murder our gay brothers and sisters are repeatedly given an insignificant penalty or found “not guilty” and still today, we hear pastors, politicians, teachers and preachers condoning hatred and violence toward gays and lesbians with little to no concern, consideration or care.
Sadly, however, we do not need to look outside of our own back yard to see this type of repulsive abuse. Every day across the U.S. gay couples and their houses are robbed, egged, vandalized, and burned by hate-motivated arsonists. Every day gays are brutally beaten, sodomized, burned, mobbed, assaulted, bashed, intimidated and killed as acceptable “punishment” simply for the way they were born. It was not that long ago here in the U.S. that gays were imprisoned, and while there, used as medical experiments. Gays endured endless months of water torture and gruesome shock therapy to “cure” them. Today every minute in our nation a crime is reported from a gay person being harassed, bashed, bullied, and often including death threats – and these are just the ones on record. Incalculable acts of gay bashing are never reported due to shame, humiliation, and embarrassment, threats if they do, and the list goes on. Gay people cannot, to this day, peacefully walk in their (long awaited and much deserved) pride parades or get married without hearing insults, slander and verbal attacks from scores of deluded people with bullhorns. Trust me Ms. King, if we had a choice, we would happily sit in the back of the air-conditioned bus!
Lastly, Alveda, though your uncle may not have officially went on record supporting equal rights for his gay brothers and sisters, his wife (your aunt) Coretta has made it abundantly clear numerous times that they both believed in, and supported equal marriage for all! Alveda I have a proposal. How about instead of using your time, energy and money preventing loving, monogamous, faithful and devoted gay couples their civil right to legally marry, you put all of your time, money and energy into making your fourth one a success – deal?
Jason: We have been waiting for this. So very well said. Thank you!
Alveda King has a point. The NAACP was set up to be a racist organization, and thus should remain as such. Take, for instance, the rape case in which an African American, US Army drill sergeant was convicted of 18 charges of rape… The NAACP said in response that the conviction was, “an attack on the leadership of the African-American male”[1].
So, you’re complaining about the wrong thing. You should be complaining that the NAACP is trying to remain relevant when its roots are deeply planted in racism. When an organization that is for the “advancement” of a particular race, that is racism,
[1]: http://articles.latimes.com/1997-04-30/news/mn-53918_1_drill-sergeants
Mike, thank you for your input. I understand your position (which brings forth an entire different conversation altogether) I however wanted to isolate the simple fact that an organization (whether racist or not) attempted to do something for the common good of all man and someone who once was treated like an outcast, and now enjoys all the benefits of an equal society, is fighting to marginalize and suppress another minority group currently being treated like one.