[BRC-NEWS] Fear of a Queer Planet Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [BRC-NEWS] http://www.blackradicalcongress.com/ In These Times June 27, 1999 Fear of a Queer Planet BY SALIM MUWAKKIL During the first Black Radical Congress (BRC) last June in Chicago, a group of black nationalists professing Rastafarian beliefs temporarily disrupted events with an impromptu protest of a proposed BRC tenet that stated: "We want an end to homophobia and discrimination against lesbians and gay men." The protest attracted little support, but it reflected an ongoing tension among black radicals. Some deny that gay rights are relevant to the well-being of the black community. And this is among black radicals, who are comfortable challenging other social traditions of capitalist America. Among more traditional African-Americans, gays are treated with undisguised hostility. This conflict has long plagued progressive African-Americans. For example, gay rights was an extremely divisive issue at the 1986 founding of Jesse Jackson's National Rainbow Coalition. Jackson is one of the few black clergy who openly supports gay rights, but pro-gay language that appeared in his group's charter was vigorously opposed by other clergy and was significantly altered before it was approved. There is little doubt that the black clergy's inordinate power reinforces widespread anti-gay biases. Since the black church historically was the only social institution relatively free of white control, it became the center of most community activity. Thus, many issues important to African-Americans are framed by the moralistic context of Judeo-Christian scripture. While predominantly white denominations debate the inclusion of homosexuals, African-American churches refuse to talk about the issue. According to the Rev. Tim McDonald, head of Concerned Black Clergy in Atlanta, not one major black denomination has formally considered the inclusion of homosexuals. "The perception is that homosexuality is not a reality in our church," McDonald says. "Too many black churchgoers tell themselves that homosexuality is a problem white folks have, not black folks." Other religions, like Islam, share Christianity's doctrinal aversion to homosexuality. Many conservative black nationalists, particularly members of the Nation of Islam, cite scriptural texts as a basis for their anti-gay prejudices. Secular nationalists offer cultural reasons. "Homosexuality is a deviation from Afrocentric thought because it makes the person evaluate his own physical needs above the teachings of national consciousness," wrote Molefi Kete Asante in his landmark book Afrocentricity, the manifesto of the Afrocentric movement. Asante, and many of his ilk, argue that homosexuality is a product of "European decadence." Some of the crudest expressions of homophobia emerge from black popular culture. The lyrics of many rap songs are filled with gay-bashing. Softness is a sin for those ghettocentric purveyors of hard-core rap, and in their minds, homosexuality is the embodiment of softness. Even those hip-hop artists who profess progressive values pepper their rhymes with occasional "faggots" and other expressions of homophobic bigotry. At the heart of much of this antagonism to gay issues is the notion that sanctioning homosexual behavior threatens an already imperiled black family. "Our families already are falling apart and our debilitated communities are the results," says Harold Lucas, a prominent Chicago activist. "Adding another barrier to black family life is akin to genocide." Cornel West, professor of religion and African-American Studies at Harvard University, notes the homophobic influence of the church and the nationalists. But beneath, he sees a larger cultural crisis that presents black men with limited options of self-image and resistance. African- American men historically have been denied access to the social establishment -- and often have gained entrance based on physical demonstrations of strength or virility. Thus, machismo has always been a strong component of the black masculine mystique. Homophobia is an affliction that deeply permeates this culture and, because of their peculiar history, African-Americans are particularly vulnerable. African-Americans, more than anyone, should understand the perils of prejudice, but many remain loathe to compare the black freedom struggle to the gay rights movement. That's why the BRC's forthright expression of solidarity with the fight for gay and lesbian freedom was a breath of fresh air and a sign that the black freedom movement is truly following the logic of liberation. But any serious challenge of homophobic attitudes must begin in the black church, where those notions are sanctified and faithfully reproduced. Perversely, the devastating march of HIV/AIDS through the black community has forced the black church to confront its hostility toward homosexuality and triggered some progressive movement within that venerable institution. There also is an incipient movement among younger and more educated clergy to bring an end to the hallowed tradition of gay bashing that for too long has demonized gay African-Americans even as it spoke of God's love. (c) 1999 In These Times http://www.inthesetimes.com/muwakkil2315.html [Moderator: taken directly from the web site] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BRC-NEWS: Black Radical Congress - General News/Alerts/Announcements Subscribe: Email "subscribe brc-news" to ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytsxp-06.04.99-09:39:13-8615