Friday, March 14, 2014

Lenox Avenue's hate speech


...at the corner of West 123rd, courtesy (again) of the Reverend James David Manning, who, a passerby named Abdellah told me, "has quite the following."

And what do you think, I asked Abdellah, who was dressed to kill. Oh, he said, I'm a 50's baby boomer. I'm a liberal. You know what I think.

"Jesus would stone the homos."

"Stoning is still the law."

How is this not incitement to violence, and why should it not be restricted, by law? How is this sheltered under the First Amendment? How has this been allowed to remain high above Lenox Avenue, for weeks?

How is hate speech allowed to remain in public view in a neighborhood where getting beaten up because you're "different" is not that unusual.

It gets better:


...so baiting, so fearful, it is cartoon-like.


This is not harmless.

This has to come down.


I have never encountered the kind of loud and proud homophobia - phobia is the wrong word: this is persecuting aggression - that I have in a few months in two linear blocks of beautiful Lenox Avenue. The Saturday night preachers on 125th - the enormous and billy club-armed Black Hebrew Israelites in their, may I say, very camp black outfits which resemble the offspring of a tangling of punk Goth and medieval jester, who shout into the crowd about fags and homos and the bitches who can't control their men.

And there is this. Take it down.


This man's comment about the yellow sign: "Probably a homo who put it up...heheheh."

Update: 3-19-14: inspired by this sign, a fund has been started to raise money for donation to the Ali Forney Center, which works to house homeless and runaway LGBT youth.

And to follow up some more. This makes Monty Python look forced. Enjoy Jennifer Louise Lopez.


34 comments:

  1. My goodness, what a sign. More a sect than a church i hope.

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  2. I wonder this is legal. Incitation to hate crimes? Wow.

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  3. It makes me want to cry. Ignorance makes idiots.

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  4. It's hard to believe in this day that this kind of hatred exists... These pictures are painful to witness but I'm glad that you posted them. I'll be even happier when, one day, this sort of thing will be so unpopular that the very people who attend these "churches" and "hate fests" will rise up and oppose the notion of hatred of any sort.

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  5. Maybe bring it to the attention of your city councilperson, or state senator or assemblyperson.

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  6. Thank you for sharing this, Marie. Homophobia is rampant in the black community and needs to be addressed in social discourse. What a shame.

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  7. God fearing Christian sentiments?

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  8. Marie, I'm not aligned with any religious groups.Nor am I a member of any political party, but this priest, in Gosford, does speak a lot of good sense and he is one of a few who have a "platform" to voice opposition to current nastiness. https://www.facebook.com/anggos

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    1. Thanks, Dinah - while nothing about any organized religion appeals to me, I don't lump all Christians together, of course. Thankfully, I grew up with church leaders who fought persecution - Ted King, who has passed way, and Desmond Tutu, of course (who would make mincemeat of this man).

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  9. In addition to 'free speech," the first amendment also establishes freedom of religion -- "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."-- so if you do petition for redress of grievance, be prepared for the idea that this repugnant billboard may be protected on both flanks. Unless, of course, there is evidence of violence as a direct result of the preacher and his preaching.

    I always find it odd when people who have themselves suffered persecution are so willing to persecute others, and seem to regard their own transgression not as bigotry or racism but as something like justice.

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    1. I shall do unto others what was done unto me. The curse of the abused.

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  10. 1- It's scary to know that this man has a large church following, and 2- Homophobia in the black community is alive and well, and is spread by idiots like this man.

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  11. We have it here in the Netherlands as well. We even have a Pedophile Society which is ALLOWED because there is freedom of speech. But when did freedom of individual speech exceed the welfare of society in importance??? The world is, and remains a very strange place, peopled with strange creatures.

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    1. ...that is so bizarre it almost cheers me up.

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  12. So sad to see The Truth misrepresented. True believers don't spread hatred.... Our work is to love All people and bring them gently to The Truth. A saving truth that sets us free from addiction and painful life choices, a truth that spreads true love and true forgiveness and results in true healing :). Jesus remains King

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  13. It's better to know that these attitudes persist and are encouraged than to have them hiding behind closed doors and minds.

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  14. It is a slippery slope when we curb freedom of speech -- what speech and why, and then, 'well, why not this too?' I think the reason this sign may remain up is the strong, undeniable confidence that this level of blatant ignorance, while enjoying a resurgence due to the Religious Right, is in fact seeing its last gasp. Most younger people know better. So we can afford to say, "Put up your ugly signs, they will not prevail" -- but at the same time we need to prosecute when hatred is incited and then carried out. That, however, is when the preacher says something such as "Go kill a homo" and one of his congregation does.

    I hate it. Hate that you and others pass this every day. Hate that there is homophobia to such an extent in the black community. But if you take the sign down, those sentiments will just be spoken in whispers, harder to address.

    Sorry. Don't mean to preach. Just my opinion. Like my croft above, I am surprised when those who have been repressed then repress others.

    Mary

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    1. I think 'freedom of speech' is often a skirt to hide behind. There is violence inherent in this sign.



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    2. Please do not think I disagree with either point. It is the legalities (who defines what is okay) that make me hesitate, particularly in this political climate. Mary

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  15. Oh my days, that's horrific! How is that allowed to be up?

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  16. How can NY allow this to go on - I am sicken and ashamed of this supposedly wonderful city.

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    1. Most of the city does not know it is there. The more you share this, the more word will spread.

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  17. I'm always baffled by type of behavior from a supposed church or for anyone for that matter. As a friend of mine once put it "Don't hate people because they sin differently than you do". We're all flawed humans, but instead of giving into the flaws we need to try and rise above them. This type of garbage plays into the worst of human nature and does nothing to help us love one another. So ends my sermon :-)

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  18. Marie, I would like to do a piece on this for Jezebel, may I use your photos?

    I have photos through our image services of Atlah's anti-Obama, Islamiphobic previous signs, but nothing which deals with their rampant homophobia.

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    1. Hi Kat - yes, of course. Please credit and link back to this post. Can you you do that?

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    1. Thanks, Kat. Let me know when the piece is live, so we can link back. I'm glad this issue will reach more readers.

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  20. This is from today's Huffington Post.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/17/atlah-jesus-would-stone-homos_n_4979653.html

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  21. The First Amendment is there to protect the speech you don't like.

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    1. It should not protect those who encourage or advocate violence towards others.

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  22. He is NOT advocating violent acts towards gays, that is a deliberate mischaracterization of his position. He is a religious person who disagrees with the culture. He is not telling people to go out and burn gays or the books they write. His vehement disapproval is not advocating violence and he is not responsible for the acts of mentally unstable people.

    The Amendment protects the speech we hate, the speech we agree with needs no protection.

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    1. "Jesus would stone homos."

      No, that is not violent, at all. Being stoned just tickles, really.

      And if anyone is mentally unstable, this man is a candidate.

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  23. Let he who is without sin, cast the first Stone !! JESUS CHRIST !!

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