National Organization for Marriage Memos Reveal Plan to Make Race Part of the Problem
Earlier this month, the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin sparked a public discussion about race and justice. Earlier this week, movie-goers reacted in ugly ways to the fact that certain characters in "The Hunger Games" were black, even though they were described as "dark-skinned" in the book. Now, confidential memos from the National Organization for Marriage have surfaced, showing that the group intended to make race a major issue in both the upcoming elections and the ongoing debate about gay marriage.
The memos went public as part of an investigation by the state of Maine into the National Organization for Marriage's campaign-finance activities, The Daily Beast reported, and the contents make it clear that undermining President Barack Obama is an important part of their strategy for protecting traditional marriage -- and they plan to do so by driving "a wedge between gays and blacks," their memos say.
In a detailed 2009 document, "The National Strategy for Winning the Marriage Battle," there's a section called "Sideswiping Obama" that reads: "Expose Obama as a social radical. Develop side issues to weaken pro-gay marriage political leaders… raise such issues as pornography, protection of children, and the need to oppose all efforts to weaken religious liberty at the federal level. This is the mission of the American Principles Project."
The memos also discuss proposals for funding a video team to document the people they say are victims of gay marriage in order "put an emotionally compelling face" on the question, "Who is hurt by gay marriage?"
Another plan of action, the "Not a Civil Right Project," details their plan to manipulate people based on race.
"The strategic goal of this project is to drive a wedge between gays and blacks -- two key Democratic constituencies," the memo, which was obtained by The Human Rights Campaign, states. "Find, equip, energize, and connect African American spokespeople for marriage, develop a media campaign around their objections to gay marriage as a civil right; provoke the gay marriage base into responding by denouncing these spokesmen and women as bigots. No politician wants to take up and push an issue that splits the base of the party."
Is it strange that a group dedicated to strengthening marriage is choosing to divide families and stir up racial tension rather than try to lower divorce rates?
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