As a former "Man of Morehouse", I heard the ridicule from some of my friends back home and some other students (men) in the AUC about the fact that we were a men's school. "Why would you want to be around a bunch of dudes all day?" "Must be a whole lotta gays at 'Da House'?" etc. I know the nervous tension that some Men of Morehouse may have concerning the homosexual students there. With that being said, I think that we as a black community need to rise up and face the facts,
homosexuals are part of the black community, period . Being homosexual does not make you not black. With all the talk about "strong Men keep comming through "Da 'House" and " the Morehouse Mystique" and over "125 years of tradition of producing leaders", Morehouse specifically and the black community in general must address the issue of homosexuality in our community honestly and realistically.
The fear is that any attention paid to the homosexuals in our community would be construed as affirming homosexuality, which is not the case. We cannot sit back and condone black on black crime in the name of not condoning homosexuality. I believe the Bible teaches that homosexuality is wrong, but I also believe the Bible when it says love you neighbor as you love yourself. I have homosexual "neighbors", as well as drug addicted "neighbors", pimps, prostitutes, thieves, liars, covetors, etc. ad infinitem who are my "neighbors". No one seems to target them for abuse of this nature, so what is it about homosexuality that warrents this type of reaction from us? Protecting the homosexual's right to not get beat over the head while in college has nothing to do with condoning homosexuality. We as black folk should understand oppression, so let's not oppress our homosexual brothers and/or our lesbian sisters.
There is something to be said about so called "flaming homosexuals" or people who are unashamedly homosexual. As I understand it, from sources on campus, the victim was looking for his "partner" in a shower stall in the dorm. So he was going through the stalls, opening them. He opened the wrong one and the man who was taking the shower told him to leave and closed the shower curtain back. Either the victim reopened the shower stall or prevented the alledged perpetrator (AP) from closing it completely, continuing to look at the AP. This made the AP upset, because the victim is a known homosexual who is "out" so to speak. Now, there have been several instances in the past on Morehouse's campus concerning a homosexual club's attempt to get school sanctioning and funding and student backlash against it. The atmosphere is not easy for the homosexual student at Morehouse. With this in mind, people need to take it upon themselves to be as cautious as possible. If it is 2am in Mississippi, and I am the only black man on the road, and the white cops pull me over, I ain't gonna yell "Death to the Conferderacy, I glad you Great granpapi got ran into the Mississippi River by some Yanks!!!!!
" Even though that maybe how I feel, I recognize the atmosphere and the context. I will humble myself for the sake of self preservation, recognizing that these guys can kill me in so many ways. It's wrong, but that would not be the best way to fight it, nor change the situation. You are dealing with fragile, young, egotistical men who are constantly fearing for and trying to establish some sense of Manhood. Sexuality is a big part of that manhood ideal, so any question as to their sexuality many times will cause that fear to reveal itself in ugly ways.
BY NO MEANS SHOULD THE VICTIM IN THIS CASE HAVE ENDED UP WITH A FRACTURED SKULL, nor am I saying that the violence was justified on any level, I am just saying that self preservation has to be a value in this instance. Looking at a man in the shower, repeatedly, against his wishes, in a situation like at Morehouse College, was not the smartest move on behalf of the victim's part. Am I blaming the victim, of course not, but he should try his best to avoid situations like these that are highly preventable.
The struggle for civil rights in the black community taught us so many lessons, one of which was humility. That is what I see missing sometimes with our homosexual brothers and sisters. Understand at this point in human history, many people do not like homosexuality, and many homosexuals sometimes flaunt their sexuality in those very people's faces, which I think was the situation here. If you think that there is nothing wrong with homosexuality, that is your choice. But understand that there are people who find it wrong on many levels, so those are not the people you want to flaunt it in front of, if your goal to to be included in the same struggle for civil rights that those same people are fighting for. Yes, we in the black community need enlightenment about this issue, but flaunting homosexuality is not the way to enlighten many of us. Honest dialogue and mutual respect will, I think, get us there quicker. The black community needs to accept the homosexuals that are within our midst, and the homosexuals in our midsts need to accept some humility in order to see the day when all of their rights are fully protected as well.
Blackwatch!!!!!!