“There are a lot of people who say that you (Harry Jackson) are a front man for national conservative groups,” is the statement several reporters have made before they asked the big question. “Who is really paying for the same-sex marriage campaign being waged against the DC City Council?”
Several of the reporters called my PR firm an “expensive, GOP political campaign firm that has masterminded several conservative victories.” Although my firm is very expensive, I was shocked that they did not know that my current PR firm helped me promote the book I co-authored with Tony Perkins (Personal Faith, Public Policy) and that they did a fabulous job in helping us on various projects for the past four years.
Liberal writers and political hacks in DC revealed early in this struggle the disregard and lack of respect they have for black clergy through their very racist, liberal assumptions. The first assumption was that black ministers other than Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, or Michael Eric Dyson are not sophisticated enough to engage the media in a professional manner. It’s as though they were saying, “We know that you are not smart enough to develop such a strong strategy on your own.” In addition they were saying, “We own the black voters in this region; they are on our political plantation. How dare you free them from their mental chains!”
My detractors failed to realize that I am a MBA graduate of Harvard Business School, author or co-author of seven books, and that I lead an organization with a multi-million dollar annual income and a huge net fund balance. While we are hardly rich and powerful by the billion dollar standards of the media today, my internal leadership team does have a minimal level of awareness of how to get a message out effectively. The message, “Say No to Same-sex Marriage!” has resonated with DC residents from 13 years old and up who feel as though they were disenfranchised by a pretentious, arrogant group that have claimed media control in our city. The media protests demonstrate the effectiveness we have had in cultivating an awareness of the issue at hand.
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I earnestly wish that these reporters had read Personal Faith, Public Policy. The book clearly states that new alliances between black, white, and Hispanic evangelicals are a part of a new way of doing business. They would have understood that the evangelical Christian movement is changing right before their eyes. The bible-believing church has finally gotten the message that it can only win when all racial/cultural segments are fully engaged. Perhaps that’s why the same group of liberal writers was so shocked that in Florida and California 70% of black citizens voted against same-sex marriage, while still voting for President Obama. This split vote showed the emergence of a new transcendent way of thinking about politics.
Although large amounts of national money have not yet come to us to help our organization participate in the numerous marriage battles around the nation, I want to confess right now that our organization would welcome national money, national volunteers, and advice on national policy or legal issues.
DC is not just a capital city region – it is everyone’s capital city. Many are not aware that over the last decade a disproportionate number of gay activists have moved to the District of Columbia. These activists have openly expressed their desire to turn DC into an east coast San Francisco. As a result of this strategy, we have several openly gay city council members and a local gay political lobby (buoyed by national money) that has given money to nearly 100% of our city council members.
To make things worst, the national gay activism group, the Human Rights Campaign, is headquartered in DC. For years gays have quietly used national strategists and money to curry favor with our local lawmakers. At the same time, the process of real estate development and relocation called “gentrification” has relocated many socially conservative citizens into the Maryland and Virginia suburbs. The city that once was the home of an 80% black population has now shrunk to only 56%.
The press has been mystified by my participation in the fight to protect marriage. They make it sound as though no self-respecting black minister can stand up for biblical principles and righteousness without selling his soul or convictions to the highest bidder. These reporters seemingly forget that no one paid off Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They failed to look closely enough at the grassroots work done in many states during the last election’s marriage amendment issue. They are not seeing the new phenomenon where courageous black leaders are rising with the boldness of the last generation’s freedom riders, resisting the “faux” civil rights claims of the gay community.
Three things encouraged me this week. First, the California Supreme Court ruled to uphold the popular vote in California maintaining marriage’s integrity by defining it as a union between a man and a woman. Secondly, a Gallup poll just released suggests that Americans are not in support of same-sex marriage while at the same time becoming increasingly supportive of civil rights for gays. The study, conducted May 7-10 by Gallup/USA Today, found 57% said that “marriages” between same-sex couples should not be recognized by law or given the same rights as traditional marriages. The poll also found 48% said that legalizing same-sex marriages would change society for the worse compared to only 13% who said it would change society for the better. Finally a group of DC residents, including Walter Fauntroy, signed a referendum against the recent DC same-sex marriage ordinance this past Wednesday.
A new day is dawning! I hope that you will join me and become part of a growing movement to protect biblical marriage as a foundational building block for our culture. With all of our different cultures and races united, the truth of our cause will not be denied.
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