Good As You

I keep hoping some day to come down on the same side as Jasmyn Cannick. But I'm not black and that fact will never make me equal in her eyes. Because just as there are some gay people who are gay first and everything else is a distant second, so too does Jasmyn seem to see only through the eyes of race. And that is unfortunate.

She forgets that those of us who are not black can also be opposed to discrimination, demonization and stereotype. We too can be allies in the fight against racial oppression.

But sometimes some black people do wrong. And those of us who would be natural allies offended when we are expected to forgive or overlook heinous behavior just because the person is black. Even worse, in this case we are being asked to overlook bigotry directed at us.

We would rather save our outrage for truly outrageous circumstances. We would rather be upset about inequal education or oppressive cultural situations or glass ceilings or "just a joke" or "oh, I'd never date a black guy" or the real instances of discrimination and indignities both big and small that are imposed on racial minorities.

When Jasmyne provides cover for Washington it doesn't change our impression of him - only he can do that. But it does tarnish the true claims of discrimination and weakens our resolve to help her fight them. And it removes her as a reliable source to tell us when they occur.