"Showdown in the Big Tent"

link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/opinion/07flanagan.html?pagewanted=1



In the OP-ED, "Showdown in the Big Tent", the journalists, Caitlin Flanagan and Benjamin Schwartz, tackle the issue of the effect that African American voters had on the outcome of the vote for proposition eight in California. I do not agree with their generalizations and stereotyping of black voters, in the article they say things such as, "The struggle for equality... has been so central to African-American identity that many blacks find homosexual claims of a commensurate level of injustice frivolous, and even offensive." These statements somewhat elude to the whole African American population of California being against gay marriages, though it is clearly stated in the beginning of the article that, "7 in 10 blacks voted in support of traditional marriage." This therefore leaves the 3 out of 10 voters who did not, which I believe this article fails to represent, though it was not the core focus of the writing; I believe the addition of the views of African Americans against proposition eight would have added to and been beneficial to the piece.

Moving more into the article, it was an interesting take on an issue that did not receive a lot of attention. Not many media sources chose to investigate why proposition eight was passed in California, but more just the reactions afterwards. This piece, which chose to pinpoint African American Obama supporters as the majority to help pass proposition eight, examined and defended this accusation. What made this a good OP-ED was that it had an apparent opinion supported by relevant facts and it showed new ideas that have not previously been reported on. The journalists defiantly wanted a surprised reaction from the readers, because they start off by saying how Hollywood celebrities believe they are open-minded and forward thinking, for electing Barack Obama and possibly being supportive of gay marriages, they go on to write, "It was only recently that the A-list discovered that this love is unrequited." Obviously this OP-ED is aiming to almost shatter the views some readers, maybe this "A- list" they mentioned, have on African American views on gay marriage, and point the finger towards that section of voters to why it did pass.
Overall, I saw this as an interesting article and a good OP-ED, I can't say I understand or agree with their thinking and reasoning, though they are able to support it.