Sunday, February 11, 2007
A new survey out with young African-Americans aged 15-25 shows some numbers that might cheer the Pat Robertson wing of the GOP.
On social issues, the surveys found that African-American young people are more likely to agree that homosexuality is always wrong (55 percent for blacks, 36 percent for Hispanics and 35 percent for whites). A majority of African-American youth also opposed legalizing same-sex marriages, (58 percent for blacks, 36 percent for Hispanics and 35 percent for whites).
It's a good indicator of why there was some underground effort by the GOP to target young black men through urban radio format advertisements this past cycle. What is suggests to me is that the black churches spreading the message of intolerance towards homosexuals is paying a big dividend in attitudes. So far, it has not affected voting patterns most likely do to the Kanye West factor. African-Americans do have good reason to believe that Republicans don't care about them or their issues.
It also exposes a fracture in the party that is famous for being built on coalitions of competing interests. As a person who supports gay equality, dignity, and basic civil rights I believe that progressive people and institutions need to start acting as a counter-weight to these messages of intolerance or our culture, our country, and our party will suffer from these seeds that have been sewn.
Subscribe to:
Comment Feed (RSS)
|