I kept a close eye on the Proposition 8 election results on the Wednesday after election day. I primarily relied upon CNN.com because they regularly updated the election results as they came in and because they provided interesting exit polling information. One bit of information that I found particularly interesting was the exit poll based on race. I was surprised to learn what has now become common knowledge: that more than 70% of black voters in California supported Proposition 8. Support for the Proposition was especially high for African-American women. (Does this mean we can thank Barak Obama for its passage?) And this was in California! Imagine the support the black community would have provided to such a measure in a more conservative and religious-minded state like Alabama or Mississippi.
Since that Wednesday, I have read several articles and seen many pictures and videos placing the majority of the blame for the Proposition's passage on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The nature of much of the blame cast at the Church has been derogatory and even downright nasty. This got me thinking: what if those casting derogatory comments at the Church cast their comments instead at the black community? After all, it is likely that a larger percentage of African-American's supported the Proposition than did Mormons, especially if one includes the entire membership of the Church (i.e. including those who are not actively Mormon).
With this in mind, let's pretend this oppostion was aimed at blacks instead of Mormons. Pretend the anti-Prop 8 slogans of the day were: "F#%!ing blacks" on large illuminated signs hung from San Fransisco homes, "black hate out of my state" on a protestor's sign, and "Blacks--Child-molesting bigots" outside of your local NAACP office. Wow! That would get your attention.
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