I woke up this morning to some Tweets that left me wondering if the words of Martin Luther King mean anything today. The tweet that started it was from NBC’s NFL analyst Tony Dungy, who has helped raise tens of thousands of dollars for an anti-gay organization and has said he opposes equality for gay Americans. “Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.” was the Tweet, which linked to a column in which he wrote:
As I have gotten older, I have only developed more admiration for Dr. King. He made a great personal sacrifice to champion the cause of many people who didn’t have the benefit of equal rights and protection.
Let’s be clear. Dungy fights against the “equal rights and protection” of many people, yet says he admires King for fighting for the “equal rights and protection” of many people. What’s the disconnect?
For Dungy, and sadly for many, King simply stood for racial equality. He didn’t intend to bring about justice for gay people. When King talks about “all God’s children,” apparently Dungy thinks that gay people aren’t God’s children. Dungy talks about the scope of King’s reach…
And it hit me very hard because I felt he had done so much–and not just for African Americans, but for our country as well.
Interesting that he would single out African-Americans but wouldn’t mention other races or sexual orientations. Why? Again, to so many King simply stood for the freedom of one racial group, not all people. As Dungy talks about equality for the whole country, does he not believe gay people are part of this great country?
As his column goes on, he further reveals my conclusion:
Today, my wife Lauren and I have to remind our children of what it was like when Dr. King was alive and how he and others had to fight for things we now take for granted. Things like going to school in the neighborhood where they live, eating at any restaraunt [sic] they like, shopping at any store they happen to go into–these are things that never even cross their mind. So it comes as a shock to them when we tell them there was a time when that wasn’t the case and that people like Dr. King helped bring about change.
All of his examples reference the horrible struggle that many Black Americans faced in the 1960s (and sadly, some of whom still face it today). They also reflect a head-in-the-ground approach to equality: “If I’ve got equality, if I can coach in the NFL and get paid millions to talk on TV, then everybody’s fine.”
It’s sad to me that someone who has openly fought against equality for so many Americans would invoke the name of Martin Luther King Jr. on this day of remembrance.
on Jan 16th, 2012 at 2:17 PM
My thing is this… If you’re a black man, (i’m gay), BY DEFAULT, You are REQUIRED to show balance and equality to the gay community. Here is the logic. This is our time where society is pressing against us. Religious cultists are pointing fingers of HATE at us and this is OUR civil rights movement now for EQUALITY. The black community has struggled and come to the front of the bus. We have a Black man in the oval office and he’s an amazing president. IF a black man is against the gay community SUCH as Dungy(how apropo his name) then he is not only a bigot, but also a HYPOCRITE. MLK’s message for equality was NOT for just black people. It was for ALL PEOPLE. Enough said.
on Jan 16th, 2012 at 4:11 PM
It’s a Christian thing. They like to talk as if we just don’t exist.
on Jan 17th, 2012 at 3:24 PM
I have only two words for Tony Dungy, the name of “Bayard Rustin”.
on Jan 17th, 2012 at 5:16 PM
Also important to remember that Coretta Scott King embraced the LGBT community in her later years and invited their participation in events at the King Center. She came to believe that LGBT rights are compatable with Dr King’s larger cause of fighting for social justice.
on Jan 17th, 2012 at 6:10 PM
A good point from ‘buccoman’. I guess Dungy would dismiss her gay rights support as irrelevant…if he was ever asked about her.
But, he’ll never be asked. His ‘million dollar plus’ employment at NBC is just another example that prejudice against equal rights for gays is not viewed as bigotry by far too many people in positions of power. And meanwhile the gay teen suicides continue.
on Jan 17th, 2012 at 7:01 PM
I want people to get the idea out of their head that because black people are minorities that automatically they should be for gay rights. If that’s the case then the same standards should be held for the gay community in regards to racism.
Since we are talking about Dungy why not point out all the Republican candidates that also talked about MLK Jr. and his fight for equality while they are actively trying to take away the rights of the LGBT community. But maybe it’s not that big of a deal because they are white so it’s ok for them to be against equality.
on Jan 17th, 2012 at 11:16 PM
I didn’t know that the Republican candidates were sports figures, as Tony Dungy is. Why would their comments be featured by a sports site like OUTSPORTS?
We get it Ace. You don’t think that being oppressed themselves is reason enough for blacks to support the gay struggle for equality. Tell us something we don’t know about you…beyond the fact that you won’t be supporting gay rights any time soon and you feel an on-going need to justify your decision.
on Jan 18th, 2012 at 12:15 AM
@Rick How about the fact that the Republican candidates have been trying to get Tebow to endorse them? What about that angle, or is that good enough for you. And if you think that there are no sports figures that are white, Republican, and anti-gay then you clearly are not paying enough attention. You have them in football, basketball, golf, mma, and nascar just to name a few.
Well Rick you don’t get it, because if you did then you would know that I’m for gay rights. But I guess in your eyes if I don’t like the fact that people keep jumping on blacks more than whites for the same crap then I must not support gay rights. Nice to see bleach still keeps some things the same.
on Jan 18th, 2012 at 1:50 AM
I’ve made several comments about anti-gay white Republican presidential candidates on this site. In fact, I made one this morning after reading about yet another gay teen suicide. As far as I’m concerned Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Michelle Bachmann have blood on their hands given all their anti-gay rhetoric.
You say you’re for gay rights Ace. But every time a black person is criticized for an anti-gay sentiment, you seem to defend their bigotry and say ‘black people don’t have to support gay rights simply because they’re a minority’. Sorry, but the support you suggest you have seems disingenuous.
I can’t imagine myself saying ‘I support equality and respect for black Americans…but it doesn’t trouble me if other gays persecute them’. You can’t have it both ways.
on Jan 18th, 2012 at 2:41 AM
So I bring up Republicans and you question why would they be featured on a site like outsports knowing that you made a comment about Republican candidates earlier yourself? So it’s ok for you to bring up Republicans but not me?
Actually it’s not every time, but nice try. “I can’t imagine myself saying ‘I support equality and respect for black Americans…but it doesn’t trouble me if other gays persecute them’. You can’t have it both ways.” How do I defend blacks being homophobic? Show me a time when I said it’s A-ok for a black person to be homophobic. All I want is for people to leave race out of it and just get to the point that the person being homophobic is in the wrong. I can make a comment on a white, hispanic, etc, etc, guy being homophobic without having to bring up his race.
Reminds me of when you said this “You claim there is an element of gay racism and I’m sure there is. But I guarantee you, 70% of gays would never vote to deny an equal right to blacks.” Which was you trying to be slick about saying that 70% of blacks voted to deny gays their equal rights during Prop 8. And then when I responded with a link to the actual numbers disproving your hilarious but typical assumption you had nothing to say. Here is that link again for you, and play close attention to how it’s not 70% and take note of the other groups that voted yes on Prop 8. (http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/issues/egan_sherrill_prop8_1_6_09.pdf) Maybe you and Santorum could get along because both of you like to make assumptions about black people. He likes to assume that the majority of people on government assistance are black and you like to assume that 70% of blacks would vote to deny gay people their rights.
Whatever happened to judging people on the content of their character and not the color of their skin.
on Jan 18th, 2012 at 5:07 AM
This is my last comment Ace, so take your best shot.
I never questioned your (or my) right to talk about the Presidential candidates. I asked why would OUTSPORTS feature them; they’re not sports figures and that’s what the editors of this website focus on. Please don’t misrepresent what I said.
As for your comment: “Show me a time when I said it’s A-ok for a black person to be homophobic.”…that’s exactly what you seem to be doing with respect to this Tony Dungy story. Your verbatim quote is: “I want people to get the idea out of their head that because black people are minorities that automatically they should be for gay rights.” Gay rights are nothing more than equality Ace, and your quote makes you seem quite supportive of blacks who oppose that equality. There’s also not one word of criticism about Dungy in any of your comments.
Re: Prop 8, I can provide links that suggest a 70% support of Prop 8 by black Californians. But let’s for argument’s sake go with your study which suggests it’s between 57% and 59%. That means roughly 6 out of every 10 black voters voted to overturn gay marriage rights. That’s the highest of any racial demographic and it comes from a group that suffered significant oppression of its own for centuries. Whether it’s 6 out of 10 or 7 out of 10, again you fine with the fact that the majority of blacks oppose equal rights for gays. You don’t say one word against them.
So save the line that you support gay rights for someone who actually believes it. The majority of your comments defend the rights of blacks to discriminate.
on Jan 18th, 2012 at 11:12 AM
You keep saying makes it seem but lack proof of me saying it’s ok for blacks to be homophobic. You find that quote but you fail to find quotes when I speak out against even black people for their homophobic comments. If I lumped Dungy with the anti-gay Republicans clearly i’m not supporting Dungy if I’m against those very same Republicans.
“That’s the highest of any racial demographic” See now i’m convinced that you have something against black people. You see the numbers and it clearly shows that Hispanics had a higher percentage than blacks, but you still say that they have the highest % out of any racial demographic. But yet no peep out of you about Hispanics. Blacks only 7% of the voters and 58% of them voted yes. Hispanics 14% of the voters and 59% of them voted yes. Or how about the fact that 68% of the voters were white and 49% of them voted Yes on Prop 8. Even if those numbers for blacks were in reverse Prop 8 still would have passed. Or what about 80% of Republicans, 68% of senior citizens, 70% of religious people, and 82% of conservatives voted yes on Prop 8 as well. This whole argument of I say nothing against blacks who are homophobic is baseless because you can’t prove it.
If you can tell a bold face lie about Blacks having “the highest of any racial demographic” knowing that it’s Hispanics then you are no better than Santorum. In fact you’re worse because you had the numbers staring you in the face and still ignored them because you were so blinded by your prejudice against black people. Racism at it’s finest.