“This Brother Needs Prayer”: An Insider’s Critique on Religion, Race, and President Obama’s Support of Marriage Equality

Abstract

Purpose

To highlight some of the tensions and complexities that persist in President Obama’s widening support of Marriage Equality during his second administration.

Methodology/approach

My primary research design uses autoethnographic detail and draws on two methodological frameworks: (1) the “personal is political” use of subjective voice in feminist theory (particularly in the writings of black feminists), and (2) the postmodern view of complex, “messy” and conflictual intersections of race, gender, sexuality, in the writings of critical race and queer theorists.

Findings

My primary finding highlights how macro social structural processes related to white privilege and racial domination and how micro cultural narratives contributing to homophobia and heteronormativity in African American religious circles creates both positive and questionable views of President Obama’s support of Marriage Equality, among African Americans heterosexuals, and within the African American LGBTIQ community.

Originality/value

The primary value of this chapter contributes to the discussion on the persistent tensions between religion, race, and sexuality, which make fragile allies between supporters of Marriage Equality and supporters of Civil Rights and racial justice.

Citation

Wilson, D.M. (2015), "“This Brother Needs Prayer”: An Insider’s Critique on Religion, Race, and President Obama’s Support of Marriage Equality", Race in the Age of Obama: Part 2 (Research in Race and Ethnic Relations, Vol. 19), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 101-121. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0195-744920140000019005