Obama, Civil Rights, and the Disagreement Between the Two

Obama declared his support for maraige equality 

during an interview with ABC's Robin Roberts

On Wednesday, May 9, 2012, much of America was taken aback when President Barak Obama spoke in support of the right for couples of the same sex to be legally married in this country. The media went on a frenzy analyzing the situation from every possible angle. And much of America experienced a sigh of relief, and some bouts of excitement even, when they heard the news. Even a Fox News analyst spoke about the issue in terms of being on the right side of history. Its safe to say that many of us are all caught up in the excitement of having POTUS’ support for equal rights, however what many seem to not realize is that this does absolutely nothing to further the cause for equality in our country.

For starters, the only reason Obama felt the need to come out with his statement was because VP Joe Biden backed him into a corner on the prior Sunday when he went on Meet the Press and expressed his support for equal marriage rights. By doing so, Biden opened the floodgates of scrutiny to the President’s less than satisfactory past attempts at dodging the issue. Prior to Sunday, Obama was able to get away with saying such things as his views are “evolving” as he “wrestled” with the issue. But as pressure mounted, Obama finally gave in just three days after Biden’s comments. So its important to note that it was not of his own volition that came out with this statement, but was simply pushed to do so.

Regardless, these recent events beg the question, what does this mean for progress in the uphill battle of equal rights in this country? The answer is a plain and simple NOTHING. Obama, after expressing his support for gay marraige, clearly stated that he believes the issue is one to be addressed at the state level. Obama once again has washed his hands of the issue by leaving it to the states to decide. Coincidentally, North Carolina voted on a Constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage just the day before and showed us all how clearly capable we are of dealing with this injustice at the state level by enacting the ban it into law.

The leader of the free world, arguably the most powerful man in the planet, supports marriage equality, but does not think it is important to enact federal legislation to ensure the rights of same sex couples. By leaving it to the states, Presdent Obama has accepted the status quo, and admitted his lack of interest in pursing this problem head on. It seems a bit disheartening, seeing as how Obama is a direct beneficiary of the civil rights struggles that our nation has endured, yet does not see it of any importance to pay it forward and make a real difference.

Its not surprising that Obama’s stance on civil rights is a not very clear given the fact that his stance on basic Human Rights is one that needs revaluation as well.  We cant expect for a President to stand up for the rights of an overlooked people in his own country when he has approved a multi-million dollar weapons shipment to the Bahraini government which just recently vowed to crack down harder on its civilian protesters many of which have been killed by government forces. But I digress.

If my historical knowledge serves me well, had Abe Lincoln’s famous speech been called the “Support of Freedom Proclamation” instead of the Emancipation Proclamation, and in it he said that the issue of slavery was best left for the states to decide. I am quite sure that I would not be writing this from below the Mason Dixon line, and that Barak Obama would not be sitting in a position with the power to deny this country the progress it so sorely needs.