Lessons about hate are sadly inevitable

“Because I Said So” column for The Commercial Appeal

May 28, 2009

Earlier this week a press conference was held to speak out against proposed legislation to protect county employees against discrimination based on their sexual proclivities. Black ministers came together with white commissioners, which is something that happens in this town, well, almost never.

So that’s good, right? I can point that out to my children and say “See? There is racial harmony in Memphis, despite what you hear on the news and read in the papers every single day.”

And then when they ask why these two radically different groups came together, I’ll say, “Well, because they both hate gay people.” Not that these leaders are concerned about the rampant violent crimes in our city or about the education of the youth of our city, but that the spirit of union was displayed to speak out against a segment of our society that they deem to be different … (read more)