Not Today, Satan! Black voters didn’t bring America to a cultural, social abyss

Discerning whether a Popeye’s or Chik-Fil-A sandwich is more delectable has inspired an interesting debate about Black people’s voting habits. Let me send props to a Charlotte, N.C. teen for registering people to vote outside a Popeye’s restaurant. But, Black people aren’t solely responsible for this dumpster fire.

Let me admit to wishing concerned chicken connoisseurs spent time comparing 2020 Presidential candidates instead. Here’s an apology for inadvertently jumping on the perennial election season bandwagon with many White people.

Not all — but many — members of this demographic like blaming Black voters for election disasters. Many White gay counterparts blame the Black church ENTIRELY for President Donald Trump’s election and the slow trudge toward equality.

No. Just no.

I’m sorry, but 13 percent of the U.S. population didn’t doom this nation. An estimated 53 percent of voting White women reportedly put Trump in the White House. And, by the way, White evangelicals outnumber conservative Black church members.

Here’s a reminder. President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) — major roadblocks to equality. Many gay White people overlook this and shower him with constant praise. President Barack Obama, who ushered in marriage equality and the right for LGBTQ+ people to serve, is still chided for taking “too long” to evolve.

The Black Church — and Black people — aren’t the sole roadblocks to equality. Predominantly White evangelical organizations like the Family Research Council and Focus On The Family have been the public face of homophobia, queerphobia, and transphobia for decades.

A not-so-secret society like The Family has played a great inside game for decades. Cultivating bipartisan relationships allowed it to flourish. Black people aren’t to blame for the legislated hatred of LGBTQ+ people. Some of my White LGBTQ+ siblings need to get their cousins together as opposed to lecturing Black folks.

White evangelicals ensconced in the Family’s C Street frat house of the powerful helped craft and export Uganda’s kill the gays bill. Undoubtedly, the Family had its hand in DOMA and DADT’s creation. Black people of faith are convenient scapegoats used to deflect from the effects of white supremacy.

Some gay White people can’t seem to grasp that systems grounded in White supremacy would try drowning them in homophobia. It’s unfathomable anyone would challenge their White privilege. Blaming Black people for gathering in church sanctuaries is easier to digest when you can’t handle the truth.