Cynthia Tucker: Bishop Long marches past real issues

• Originally Published on: 12/22/04 in the Atlanta Journal Constitution [here]

Bishop Eddie Long is confused about the decline of marriage.

Like many conservative Christians, he blames gays for the problems facing the institution, fearing that their desire to marry would somehow undermine heterosexual unions. On Dec. 11, Long — pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, a DeKalb County megachurch that claims 25,000 members — assembled thousands to march in support of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same-sex unions.

The bishop is wrong about gay marriage, of course. Heterosexuals have undermined matrimony all by themselves — and nowhere is that more true than in black America, where 70 percent of children are born to unmarried parents, where divorce is rampant and where unemployment, incarceration and drug abuse further reduce the pool of eligible males.

Marriage is virtually disappearing among black people. Two-thirds of white and Latino men between the ages of 35 and 39 are married; only 43 percent of black men in that age group are married.

If the bishop were genuinely concerned about changing those statistics, he and his followers might have marched to protest the murder rate among black men. It is far more destructive to families than gay marriage could ever be.

In 2002, the nation had 14,054 homicides, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report. Of those in which a suspect was identified, black men were likely perpetrators in more than 40 percent. That's a damning statistic for a group that accounts for only about 6 percent of the population.

Black men are also the group most vulnerable to violent crime. In 2002, they accounted for nearly 40 percent of the nation's homicide victims. In other words, black men pose the greatest threat to one another.

Just two weeks ago, Carl Walker, 27, was gunned down while delivering The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in Avondale Estates. He left a grief-stricken family, including his widow, DeVona, who had known him since junior high school, and his 7-year-old son, TyeRelle. The four suspects, like the victim, are all young black men, according to DeKalb County police department spokesman Dale Davis.

Last month, Lonneil Octavis Wade, 20, was shot dead as he walked home from work in Powder Springs, the victim of an apparent random attack. Police have arrested four men, including 17-year-old Alvin High Jr., the alleged gunman; all of the suspects, like the victim, are black. If they are guilty, they will make poor prospects for marriage.

While black men who murder belong in prison for long stretches, nonviolent offenders don't. If Long were genuinely concerned about black marriage, he might have called a march to protest the high rates of incarceration of black men for nonviolent drug crimes.

Prison hardly improves a man's marriage prospects. When they are finally released, drug felons have a record that makes most employers run the other way. They also leave prison less able to form stable relationships and, often, more prone to violence.

And if Long really wanted to help restore marriage among blacks, he might have marched to call attention to one of the greatest threats to the community: the spread of AIDS. Black Americans represent less than 13 percent of the population but account for more than half of all new HIV infections. But the bishop's homophobia will only exacerbate that problem, discouraging gays and lesbians from coming out of the closet or even from being tested for the disease.

Perhaps restoring marriage wasn't really Long's goal. Perhaps he was really after public acclaim. After all, if he marched to protest divorce, he'd likely infuriate more than a few members of his congregation. (Long himself remarried after a divorce.) If he marched to denounce black murderers, he'd risk the opprobrium of those who still can't admit that a pathology stalks black America.

How much easier it is to pander to a popular prejudice.

• Greg Fuller Responds: Another great piece , Ms Tucker , toss in a little plug for sensible gun measures and you would have touched another issue vital to the Black community's survival . Thugs with guns have degraded our communities for years . Just as we are witnessing in Iraq with the insurgency , weapons in the wrong hands make our communities untenable , unstable and are a requisite precursor and facilitator for the deaths from robberies and the drug trade.
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