I was born and raised in the northeast corner of Georgia.  The county that i was born in, Forsyth County, had an unofficial rule that forbade black people from living there.  Any who ignored the signs (yes, actual signs) at the county line and crossed into county borders to drive through the state were harassed by county inhabitants.  In 1987, a black civil rights activist named Hosea Williams - a Georgia native - led a march of 75 people through Forsyth county.  He and his group were pelted by locals and numerous KKK members with bricks and stones (sounds like something out of the old testament).  A week later, undaunted, Mr. Williams returned to Forsyth County with 20,000 people and an impressive security detail.  Soon after, Oprah brought her show to Forsyth County for a revealing episode on the motivations for this extreme racism.  In the end, as a result of the exposure brought to this little county by Williams, Forsyth County began to integrate.

Hosea Williams was born in 1926.  He was once beaten so badly he had to be hospitalized - because he drank out of the “white” water fountain.  When I heard the people at Palin rallies, I was spirited back to those times.  It was an absolutely horrible feeling, exposing the darkness that still resides in a minority of people in this nation.

The idea of racism is familiar to me.  The motivations and justifications for racism are also familiar to me.  As has been proven throughout history, the most effective way to conquer racism is to bring into the light the reasons people have to justify hate.  When shown to be publicly unpopular, the hate doesn’t go away, but it becomes less and less active and vocal.  In small groups, hate has power.  On larger stages, hate has no power.

America has, on the large stage, drawn the final line and said that we will not tolerate this type of thinking any longer.  We did not allow old traditional thinking cloud our judgement.  The old white guy, the the war hero, may have looked familiar and safe in comparison to the young, unfamiliar face of a man with roots in both Kenya and Kansas.  The desire for truth, for adulthood, for a recognition of our international nature and power, and for accountability saw through the racial fog that has hung over this nation for far too long.  Our nation saw the best man for the job.  Period.  There is a lot to do, but the American People have resoundingly said, “Yes, we can, and will!”

I know that my friends, and myself, are disappointed about Prop 8 in California.  I take a look back at people like Hosea Williams, who fought literally their entire lives and only saw some victory toward the end of their journey.  It will be the same with gay rights.  We won’t win this battle in a decade.  It will take a generation, and even then there will be those who always harbor ill will toward us.  We will have to be patient, keep fighting, don’t let them tell us “you can’t”.  After over 100 years, African Americans can finally say, “oh, hell yes we can.”  And so will we as gay and lesbian Americans.

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