[img]583|left|||no_popup[/img] “If gay is the new black, then black must have been the old gay . . . I don't really know what that means either . . . I support gay marriage, but it's mainly because I just don't care one way or the other.” – Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University
The author presents himself as a public intellectual and a dedicated civil rights advocate. He is the driving force behind “Your Black World,” a popular website that seeks to keep black people politically enlightened.
Dr. Watkins goes on to say the following:
“I wonder what it means to simply say that everyone deserves civil rights, and to use that as a blanket justification for gay marriage. If I wanted to marry my sister and someone said I couldn't, would that be a violation of my civil rights? I support gay marriage, but it's mainly because I just don't care one way or the other. But if I were deeply religious and considered marriage to be a spiritual union solely designed to be between a man and a woman, I might be offended by someone asking me to support the notion of same sex marriage. Civil rights doesn't mean that every person can do whatever they want, whenever they want with whomever they want. If that were the case, then a mother could decide to terminate her child's life after the baby was born….after all, it's her baby, right[?]”
So-called public intellectuals of Dr. Watkins’s ilk never cease to amaze me. How he could possibly have obtained a Ph.D without learning to think? Shouldn’t we expect a Ph.D to have the intellect to formulate an argument not filled with irrelevant non-sequiturs?
The Real Definition
Equal civil rights means that gays deserve the right to marry the one they love, just like straight people. Dr. Watkins’s response implies gays are asking for more rights than straight people. Therefore, his reply would only be valid if gays were demanding the right to marry their sisters.
Answering his question, yes, it would be a violation of his civil rights if he were not allowed to marry his sister, but only if others were allowed to marry their sisters.
The fact this guy has a doctorate and can’t see that the issue of equal rights under the law and his right to marry his sister are far from analogous is a serious indictment of t our educational system. After all, he is charged with the responsibility of educating others. It shows the dire need of Americans to become independent and self-sufficient thinkers.
Isn’t the Racism Obvious?
Dr. Watkins presents himself as a public intellectual, but when it comes to the civil rights of gays he uses the same irrational argument racists did to block black civil rights legislation of the past.
They would say, “Okay, if we allow a change in the law to permit white people to marry black people, what will stop us from passing laws that people should have the right to marry their dogs?”
They are equally stupid analogies. Although I have heard Dr. Watkins say outrageous things, I am shocked he would say something as dumb as this. It's a ridiculous attempt at syllogistic logic – “All dogs have fleas. My cat has fleas. Therefore, my cat is a dog.” It is equally shocking he fails to recognize the racist history of the argument.
His attitude illustrates black people are the product of the same racist and socially bigoted environment as white people. We are just as racist and socially bigoted toward other blacks and minority groups as any racist hillbilly. That accounts for much of the flak Obama is getting from Dr. Watkins’s black colleagues.
While many black “intellectuals” cloak their hostility toward President Obama in the language of black activism, they are upset with Obama for the reason many conservative Republicans are. They consider him “uppity.” They are saying, “Who does this spook think he is, struttin’ around like he thinks he has as much sense as white folks? He’s just ignorant, like me.” This is self-hatred.
No Time to be Neutral
I have dropped the pretense of journalistic detachment on this issue. I am on a single-minded mission against these people, as should every journalist, black journalists, in particular. Some subjects are more important than an arbitrary rule of not getting involved in a story. White journalists routinely recognize that every time this country goes to war. The black community is in a state of war, being besieged by black, self-serving demagogues who constitute a severe threat to its survival. We should not sit back and let it happen if a child were drowning.
Dr. Watkins has betrayed an attitude toward gay minorities that parallels the Tea Party. This should be a call to arms to journalists in the black community who have a vested interested in the principle of equal rights. We must alert the community to the importance of black people thinking for themselves to formulate their view of reality.
The black community needs to understand they never should give anyone else’s ability to think priority over our own. As we saw in the 2000 election that brought George Bush into our lives, the credentials of many “intellectuals” shows they have spent so much time learning to regurgitate the thoughts of dead white folks that they never have taken the time to learn to think for themselves.
Related commentaries:
http://wattree.blogspot.com/2011/07/dr-cornel-west-and-intellectual-rice.html
http://wattree.blogspot.com/2011/09/once-again-nader-and-west-team-to-elect.html
http://wattree.blogspot.com/2012/03/in-defense-of-my-stance-against-cornel.html
Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet and musician, born in Los Angeles. A columnist for the Los Angeles Sentinel, the Black Star News, a staff writer for Veterans Today, he is a contributing writer to Your Black World, the Huffington Post, ePluribus Media and other online sites and publications. He also is the author of “A Message From the Hood.”
Mr. Wattree may be contacted at wattree.blogspot.com or Ewattree@Gmail.com
