jamesfrmphilly said:
how can a person put the interests of the group, black people, before their own personal romantic or sexual desires and still be available to other races?
in what way does IR benefit the group?
I am not going to continue to argue this when I have stated I agree to disagree. No amount of arguing is going to get you to see my opinion, and neither will I see yours. But I still stand by being able to respect members, including those you think are anti-black, tom or whatever.
Why? Well, when it comes to a black organization that purports to embrace everyone, then it needs to stand by its word. I care about the people's contribution along with whether or not they are following the rules; such as posting peacefully. If they can do these things, then that's what matters to me, period.
If black empowerment is to be had, excluding people because they let certain things known about their lives (when the threads were allowed to be continued), isn't going to help the issue. Lord knows, if I had known disclosing things about my life would've caused so many problems, I would've suppressed that information. But when I see threads like this allowed and people talking, or if I receive a response that's nice (I don't agree but that's your life) type of response, then I don't know what to share and what not to share.
So if black organizations think people in IR are that detrimental to the cause, they need to be banned at the outset, meaning there needs to be clear disclaimers... people with non-black spouses and/or biracial children aren't allowed. So you won't have to deal with them, their opinions and their own visions of black empowerment. Unless this happens these groups will continue to participate. Obviously, they are not defining themselves by a 'black-only' type of mindset when getting involved in activism.
In conclusion, the people in IR that contribute to black causes have their own definition of empowerment that may not match another. People can agree with it or not, but if they can't post peacefully with these members then that's when problems erupt. So if a black organization is going to be successful in bringing black people together, they will either deal peacefully with different lifestyles (even if there's disagreement on what is black and what isn't), or they can prevent these types of members from joining from the outset.