This is exactly the point I was trying to make when I brought up the fact that the  McCain/Palin campaign was spreading the seeds of hatred and fear in terms of their rhetoric at their rallies and their apparent unwillingness to stand up and tell the crazy racists who flocked to them to shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down (of course not in those exact words but... something would have been better than nothing).  Hatred and fear doesn't stop after election day.  Especially when it is hatred and fear based on religious and racial ignorance.

From Statesman.com:

From California to Maine, police have documented a range of incidents, including vandalism, threats and at least one physical attack. There have been "hundreds" of incidents since the election, many more than usual, said Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate crimes.

...

Other incidents include:

• Four North Carolina State University students admitted writing anti-Obama comments in a tunnel designated for free expression.

• In Standish, Maine, a sign in the Oak Hill General Store said, "Osama Obama Shotgun Pool." Customers could sign up to bet $1 on a date when Obama would be killed. "Stabbing, shooting, roadside bombs, they all count," the sign said.

• Elementary students on a school bus in Rexburg, Idaho, chanted, "Assassinate Obama," a district official said.

• University of Alabama professor Marsha Houston said a poster of the Obama family was ripped off her office door. A replacement poster was defaced with a death threat and a racial slur, she said.

• Alie Kamara, a black teen in New York, said that on election night he was attacked with a bat by four white men who shouted, "Obama." Police said Saturday that two 18-year-old white men were arrested Friday. Ralph Nicoletti and Bryan Garaventa face charges of hate-crime assault and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.

Just as I and others predicted.  People have been so worried about Obama.  I am more worried about brown people, black people, and white sympathizers.  Because those people are easy targets for angry racists.  Obama is much harder to get to.  Obama has secret service agents guarding him.  Obama has an intelligence agency on his back.  WE (the everyday citizens) don't.

So... as I said before... get ready for more of this.  People waiting with bated breath for Obama's assassination, vandalism and threats towards regular people, people teaching their children to chant assassination songs... in my opinion, it's just the beginning. 

This is what happens when you don't think there is such a thing as "real" racism anymore.  Or when you think young people should stop complaining because they don't know how bad it was.  Or when people at your political rallies yell "nigger" and "terrorist" and "kill him" and YOU as the leader running for office... say NOTHING.  People think they get the green light to express themselves violently towards those they don't like.  AND. THEY. WILL.

As everyone knows by now, Proposition 8 was passed in California much to the dismay of many people in the state and in the country.  Similar propositions were passed in Florida and Arizona which has lead to those who oppose gay marriage to say "See?  Americans don't want gay marriage!  So give it up already!"   Again, showing their ignorance of how civil rights movements work.  Never give up.  Loving v. Virginia didn't get as far as it did because people gave up.  And people who are against the "separate but equal" laws that seek to exclude gays from "real" marriage won't be giving up either.

Unfortunately... things have gotten a little bit out of control in terms of the blame issue.  Blacks in California voted YES on Prop. 8  approximately 70%.  For some reason, this fact has been brought up in such a way that blames blacks for the passing of this law.  This is despite the fact that blacks make up 6% of the total population in CA and only approximately 10% of the VOTING population in that state.  Saying "Blacks voted overwhelmingly in favor of Prop. 8!" while neglecting to mention that they make up a very small percentage of the population that votes.... well... I suppose we can just chalk that up to another example of the media not doing their job correctly.

As a result....

From Rod 2.0:

It was like being at a klan rally except the klansmen were wearing Abercrombie polos and Birkenstocks. YOU NIGGER, one man shouted at men. If your people want to call me a FAGGOT, I will call you a nigger. Someone else said same thing to me on the next block near the temple...me and my friend were walking, he is also gay but Korean, and a young WeHo clone said after last night the niggers better not come to West Hollywood if they knew what was BEST for them.

In response...

From The Bilerico Project

But I'm wondering why these folks are so caught up in the black voters, who obviously can't ever be persuaded on this issue because... well, because. There are so many other groups in the exit polling that voted for Prop 8 overwhelmingly (as in, more than 60%):

• The elderly (65+)
• Republicans
• Conservatives
• People who decided for whom to vote in October (but not within the week before the election)
• People who were contacted by the McCain campaign
• Protestants
• Catholics
• White Protestants
• Those who attend church weekly
• Married people
• People with children under 18
• Gun owners
• Bush voters
• Offshore drilling supporters
• People who are afraid of a terrorist attack
• People who thought their family finances were better now than 4 years ago
• Supporters of the war against Iraq
• People who didn't care about the age of the candidates
• Anti-choicers
• People who are from the "Inland/Valley" region of California
• McCain voters

Some of these groups supported Prop 8 far more than African Americans did, which makes me wonder why we're focused so much on race instead of any of these factors. In terms of predictive value, religion, political ideology, and being married with children tell us much more about how someone voted on Prop 8 than race does.

Why are people ignoring this fact?  As a general rule, black people have a tendency to be VERY religious as a group.  If you can name me 10.... no... let's make it 5 black atheists, I will give you a kiss!  It could even be people that you personally know.  Take your time.

A LOT of money is spent by the Religious Right to try to keep "separate but equal" laws in place when it comes to homosexuals.  People tend to forget that.  The Mormon church spent millions to stop gays from being married in California.  Literally.  

For a really great explanation of how to better handle the disappointing loss in California, please read People for the American Way President Kathryn Kolbert's response.  It is long... but worth it.

From People for the American Way:

Republicans and white churchgoers, among many other groups, voted for Prop. 8 at higher rates than African Americans. There are few African Americans in the inland counties that all voted overwhelmingly to strip marriage equality out of the California constitution. So why single out African Americans? Who’s really to blame? The Religious Right. Let’s start here:

Conservative evangelical leaders who are unremittingly hostile to the rights of gay people and who put Prop. 8 on the ballot and bombarded pastors, churchgoers, and the public with lies about gay people wanting to destroy their religious liberty and come for their children — even suggesting that Christians would be thrown in jail if Prop 8 passed.

Mormon Church leaders who turned Prop. 8 into a national religious crusade against gay couples, badgered Mormons nationwide to give heavily to the campaign, and recruited thousands of footsoldiers for door-to-door canvassing (special kudos to the courageous Mormons who challenged the Church leadership)

Conservative Catholic leaders who betrayed Catholic teaching about human dignity by enthusiastically joining forces with campaign organizers who portrayed supporters of gay equality as evil and satanic

“Yes on Prop 8” leaders whose view of the campaign as a battle between good and evil led to an “ends justifies the means” campaign that included grossly distorted ads, mailings, and robocalls directed at African Americans and falsely portrayed Barack Obama as a Prop 8 supporter.

There will be plenty of post-game analysis of the No on 8 campaign’s choices and strategies, and that’s not the purpose of this memo. But it is clear that the Yes on 8 campaign had a far more aggressive and systematic outreach to African American religious leaders and voters. If we either take black voters for granted because they are “supposed to” be liberal, or we write them out of our campaign strategies because we label them inherently homophobic, we cannot turn around and make them the scapegoat for our failings.

The decision to ban gay marriage via Prop. 8 in California had very little to do with race and very much to do with religion.  I think that NO on Prop. 8'ers did not have nearly as strong a campaign because they beleived that it was a given for quite some time.  They believed that there was no way California (of all places) would vote to ban gay marriage.  I think people took the whole situation for granted and didn't work as hard as they should have.

I believe that the California Supreme Court will totally shoot down Prop. 8 because it is wholely unconstitutional just as denying black and whites the right to marry legally with all of it's benefits was.  But people need to keep it in mind.... the Religious Right (Republicans) has a shitload of money at it's disposal.  And they use it.  Whether it be to buy up property around Planned Parenthoods so they can try to intimidate women seeking medical care.... or to buy airtime on television to spread lies about how gay marriage will "hurt the sanctity of marriage" (just like they said about blacks and whites marrying) or "completely ruin traditional families" (just like they said about blacks and whites marrying).  So those on the opposite side have to work ten times as hard.  Blaming one specific small group of people for this failure is a waste of time and does nothing more than create more division.  And considering there are plenty of black gays out there who would like to join in on the protesting... I don't think that alienating them is really the best way to acheive the whole equality goal.

The President of the United States

This is an important comment by Rachel Maddow.  Showing just how far this adolescent country has to go to reach maturity.  Testify, sister Rachel!