Bishop Phillip Davis had not planned to talk about marriage and politics, but five minutes into his sermon at Nations Ford Community Church in Charlotte he changed his mind. Bishop Phillip Davis had not planned to talk about marriage and politics, but five minutes into his sermon at Nations Ford Community Church in Charlotte he changed his mind.Not only should the 6,000 members of the overwhelmingly African-American congregation pray with one voice, he said, come May 8 they should vote with one, too.\u201cYou know, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Not only should the 6,000 members of the overwhelmingly African-American congregation pray with one voice, he said, come May 8 they should vote with one, too.
\u201cYou know, we got this amendment on the ballot,\u201d Davis said, walking to the back of the church stage, then throwing his arm around a member of the men\u2019s choir as laughter grew.
\u201cIf I was your pastor, and I was married to him, how many of y\u2019all would be here today? \u201d
Thirty-one states \u2013 in 31 tries \u2013 have approved amendments to block gay unions. Based on the polls, North Carolina is a good bet to extend the streak May 8, due in part to African-American congregations like Nations Ford.
A March 23 survey by Public Policy Polling of Raleigh showed that black voters statewide support the measure 61 percent to 30 percent. Whites: 58-38 percent in favor.
More than 80 percent of the state\u2019s African-Americans voters are Democrats. Their support for the amendment represents a rare break with the party\u2019s leaders and civil rights groups.
President Barack Obama, who in 2008 received more than 90 percent of the North Carolina black vote, took the unusual step this year of wading into the amendment debate, calling it discriminatory.
Gov. Bev Perdue, all three major Democratic candidates for governor and many other party leaders have also spoken out against it.
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