Several of the reporters called my public relations 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 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.
Through their very racist assumptions, D.C.-area liberal writers and political hacks have revealed their disregard and lack of respect for black clergy. Their first incorrect assumption was that black ministers, excluding Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton or Michael Eric Dyson, are unable to engage the media in a professional manner. It’s as though they were saying that we were not smart enough to develop a strong strategy on our own. In addition, they were saying that they owned the black voters in the capital, as if it were their political plantation. How dare we, ministers, free them from their mental chains!
My detractors fail to realize that I am a MBA graduate of Harvard Business School, the author of seven books and I lead a multi-million dollar organization with 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 slogan, “Say No to Same-sex Marriage!” has resonated with D.C. residents of all ages, who feel disenfranchised by a pretentious, arrogant group that has claimed media control in our city. The media protests demonstrate the effectiveness we have had in cultivating an awareness of the issue at hand.
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 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 and cultural segments are fully engaged. Perhaps that’s why the same group of liberal writers was so shocked that 70 percent of black voters voted against same-sex marriage in Florida and California, though they voted 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.
D.C. 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 D.C. 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 percent of our city council members.
To make things worst, the national gay activism group, the Human Rights Campaign, is headquartered in D.C. 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 percent black population has now shrunk to only 56 percent.
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 last 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 percent of respondents 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 percent said that legalizing same-sex marriages would change society for the worse compared to only 13 percent who said it would change society for the better. Finally a group of D.C. residents, including Walter Fauntroy, signed a referendum against the recent D.C. same-sex marriage ordinance.
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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Harry R. Jackson Jr. is senior pastor of 3,000-member Hope Christian Church in the nation’s capital. Jackson, who earned an MBA from Harvard, is a best-selling author and popular conference speaker. He leads the High-Impact Leadership Coalition.
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