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 From The Desk Of
Ron Walters
Columnist Page
Friday, October 29, 2004; Page 24
The Moral of the Story:
Black Ministers Confused?
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies just released its new poll on October 19 and found that support for George Bush among Blacks, although still exceedingly small, has doubled since its 2000 poll. The question in the 2000 survey was the same as this year: “Suppose the ... Presidential election was being held today......who would you like to see win?”
In 2000, Blacks supported Al Gore by 74% and George Bush by only 9%. In the new poll, however, Blacks support John Kerry by 69% and George Bush by 18% and a New York Times poll released the same day found roughly the same result. When the author of the survey, Dr. David Bositis, senior analysts of the Joint Center, was asked why the increase from 9% in 2000 to 18% in 2004, he said that one of the factors was probably the in-roads made by the “faith-based” program of the Bush Administration in some Black churches and the strong position of the Black church opposing gay marriage.
My response to the questions asked of me was that these are not normal voting issues for Blacks. But what if they are this time around? Granted the issue of gay marriage especially has provoked strong feelings within the Black community as well as with Whites and there has been some friction between selected ministers and the Congressional Black Caucus on this issue. Moreover, Republicans have worked this issue in the Black community among their Black constituents as a wedge issue to divide the Black vote. As such, it is being used like the Faith Based program, where Bush is calling in his chits from Black ministers who have profited from the program.
Let me make it clear that I don’t for a minute believe that George Bush will receive 18% of the Black vote this year. He will be lucky to get 6% or 7% given the strong feelings that Blacks have toward him. But let us look at this. To begin with, although the 2000 Joint Center poll had Al Gore at 74%, the final exit polls that November found that Blacks gave him 90% of their vote, a 16 point difference! But the main point is that Blacks, like others, usually vote on the “favorable rating” of the candidate, which this year was only 22% for Bush. Usually, a president who has under 50% favorable rating does not win election and Blacks have never given any president over 10% whose favorable rating was that low. But what if they do?
In these last few days before the election, I think we should all be reminded of the stakes. When most Black ministers in America look out at their parishioners, they see a flock that is characterized by the urgent needs: the necessity to have a good economy to provide them with decent jobs, to fight poverty, hunger and homelessness. They need to have excellent education and health care. But most of all this year, Blacks are saying that they need a president who will stop the war in Iraq.
In the Joint Center Poll, when asked what their main priorities were, the respondents said first, the economy and second the War in Iraq, and health care and education followed. How then, does a sensitive and accountable minister elevate the issue of gay marriage over these urgent priorities and how, even though they might have received a few dollars from an administration they know honestly will not take care of the full range of their urgent priorities?
The above questions can be answered easily by Black parishioners and although they must listen to the voice of their leadership’s moral authority, they must also remember that the greatest moral teachings of the Bible were applied to feeding the hungry, healing the sick and caring for those who could not care for themselves. I have always thought that was the major mission of the church.
So, it appears to me to be a kind of contradiction to dance with the devil - who propagates war and pestilence and death upon a defenseless people in the name of profit - while supporting him in a cause like opposing gay marriage that is at best secondary to the life problem of church members. In fact, it is more than a contradiction; it is a betrayal of those who have gone before, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who went into politics to enable government to establish a set of moral initiatives that would help to liberate our people. How does elevating gay marriage to the point that our ministers are driven to support George Bush fulfill that legacy? It doesn’t and we all ought to get our head straight about what is really important in this season of life and death choices.
Dr. Ron Walters is the Distinguished Leadership Scholar, Director of the African American Leadership Institute and Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland College Park. His latest book is: White Nationalism, Black Interests, by Wayne State University Press. |
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