Movin' on Up

On hundred and fifty years ago, most African-Americans were born into slavery. The Dred Scott decision, which ruled. among other things, that

No Negroes, not even free Negroes, could ever become citizens of the United States. They were "beings of an inferior order" not included in the phrase "all men" in the Declaration of Independence nor afforded any rights by the United States Constitution.

They lived in brutal, dehumanizing conditions, often in the stifling humidity of the South in Summer, and it took a bloody war over the right of secession to bring slavery to an end. Things looked up briefly, with the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, but that bastard Andrew Johnson and the Ku Klux Klan ensured that as little as possible changed for Blacks in America.

The equally fucked up Plessy V. Ferguson (Separate but equal) decision of 1896 and Poll Taxes and intimidation ensured that African-Americans would remain without significant political power for several more decades. Some of the greatest baseball players ever, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, and Cool Papa Bell, never got the renumeration or credit deserved due to the racism of the American system. Jackie Robinson , the first African-American to play major league baseball was subject on a daily basis to taunts, slurs, and threats that might have made a weaker man like me go totally nuts.

Not until the Brown V. Board of Topeka decision, and the courageous stance of Rosa Parks, and the work of civil rights organizers in the 1950s and 1960s, a few of whom were brutally murdered, did African-Americans begin to feel some degree of political power.

In 2004 the Republican party made significant gains at the polls with Black voters. The cause of this is debatable, but certainly, one issue which they have made inroads with is the issue of Gay Marriage.

Which brings me to my point. Finally, it seems that a portion (hopefully not all) of the African- American community have finally gotten their hatred and bigotry revved up to match the Republican party.

Pastor Henry Coles, a true successor to MLK Jr. and Paul Robeson in his fucked up mind of hate, is moving forward:

from CNN:

Pastor Henry Coles of the Word of Faith Christian Center in Nashville says some African American ministers shy away from the gay-marriage debate because they do not want to offend some congregants, or because they do not want to join a cause more associated with Christian conservatives and Republicans.

But he is helping promote the proposed Tennessee amendment.

"For me, as a representative of Christ, unions begin with a man and a woman," Coles told CNN. "From the very beginning of the Bible, God introduces the relationship that ultimately has been the relationship of the foundation -- the standard of humanity: Adam and Eve."

Jesus: his message of hatred and intolerance. I missed that part of the New Testament, but I guess Mr. Coles has risen to play in the world of major league bigotry.