Hey Everyone,
First off let me join in the excitement and hope for our president elect Barack Obama. I refer to him as our president, because I truly feel he is a president for the people, by the people.
I must say that my excitement for the presidency has been tainted by the passing of proposition 8 here in California. For those of you not familiar, it's a proposition that ban's gay marriage in the state of California. How this can pass in such a "liberal" or "progressive" state proves to me that those labels once deconstructed present nothing more than a buzz term that people can hide behind while they enjoy a level of privilege that is undeserved.
The most appalling thing of all in this passing of this proposition was not that it passed, but who voted for it. Seven of ten black voters voted to pass the ban, while 60% of hispanics followed suit. This same great turnout that gave Obama an unprecedented edge in the presidential election actually aided the passing of this bigoted bill. This provides a great issue for us to unpack the notions of interlocking systems of oppression. It looks to not view issues of race, sex, sexuality, and class etc. in isolation of eachother, but as interlocking systems that create unique subject positions for each intersection. Thus we can recognize that although these voters that came out to support Barack were challenging the racial history of this country there is a lack of ability for people to recognize the collective struggle they share accross cleavages of race, sex, sexuality etc. These systems continue to perpetuate themselves by dividing those they oppress. Until we realize that the struggle of Gays to marry is actually linked with our struggle against racism and patriarchy we will not make positive strides.
That is why we can't just depend on Barack, but as Barack reminds us with each of his speeches, it is us who have to challenge the norms that create oppression, every oppression.
Sincerely,
Evan Flagg
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I don't know Evan yet, but I can say this: THANK YOU FOR SAYING REAL SHIT! I don't care how you (readers) personally feel about same sex relationships. If it is against your moral code, so be it. However, I have a problem when people are literally voting to amend the constitution so that it TAKES RIGHTS AWAY FROM CITIZENS... Homophobia is played... get over your judgments and let people live their lives. In fact, WORRY ABOUT LIVING YOUR LIFE to its full potential and stop trying to take away from the experiences of others...
There are enough dinosaurs to go around people... Love each other already...
-Dekk-
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