General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy you should not be discouraged by the long lines you saw at Chick-Fil-A today
The battle for equal rights for all Americans has been going on for as long as America has existed, it has been a very difficult battle but we as a nation have come an enormous distance towards the dream of full equality for everyone. Before we saw the gains our nation made however we saw numerous examples of what appeared to be major setbacks. Make no doubt about it that during the Civil Rights Movement many supporters of that great movement felt beaten and discouraged when they saw the fire hoses turned on their supporters. Many of them no doubt felt helpless when they saw that the majority of the population strongly supported segregation and voted in racist politicians. When blacks southerners saw their neighbors lynched, when they saw the KKK burn their homes to the ground, when they saw the "white's only" sign on the door of countless businesses, when they were told they could not sit in the front of the bus, and when they were constantly held back they no doubt felt defeated on many occasions. No matter how many times they felt defeated however they kept fighting back and eventually they won a victory that most people thought impossible, they got the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed. While the Civil Rights Act did not come close to fixing everything it brought us closer to equality than we had ever been at any point since Columbus first landed in America.
Today leaders of the gay rights movement are fighting a similar battle to the one that was fought by the Civil Rights Movement of the 50's and 60's, like the Civil Rights Movement they have suffered numerous setbacks but have slowly started to win over public opinion. The gay rights movement has not quite reached their Civil Rights Act of 1964 moment yet, but that moment is coming and when that moment comes all the setbacks that were suffered in the past will no longer seem like setbacks.
Today the bigots threw a "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day" and it appears they were very successful at getting long lines of homophobes to spend their money in support of a corporation that donates to hate groups. This "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day" was obviously designed to counter the boycott that gay rights advocates have called against Chick-Fil-A, and at least in terms of dollars it will probably appear that they were successful. Let's be honest, most of the people who are with us in boycotting Chick-Fil-A did not eat at Chick-Fil-A to begin with. Chick-Fil-A has been known to be a homophobic company for a long time and most gay rights supporters probably stopped eating there a long time ago, sure they lost some customers but the number of customers lost is more than offset by the number of bigots who will start eating there or going there more often to prove their homophobic credentials. Today's profits will almost certainly be the biggest single day profits Chick-Fil-A has ever seen in their company's history, my guess is the annual profits will also more than likely be the biggest numbers Chick-Fil-A has ever posted. As much as a setback as this may seem to those who have been advocating a boycott I can not say it loudly enough, DO NOT LET THIS DISCOURAGE YOU!
In the end Chick-Fil-A's profits this week or this year do not matter to us, what matters is that we are able to reach our Civil Rights Act of 1964 moment and we bring about permanent and lasting change that spreads well beyond any fast food chain. Once we reach that moment I can assure you that there won't be any more lines at Chick-Fil-A like the ones you saw today. Once we reach that moment all those people who posted the pictures of themselves with their Chick-Fil-A bags on Facebook today will be forced to explain those photos to their children and grandchildren some of whom will no doubt be gay. Once we achieve equality many of the people who chose to stand in line at Chick-Fil-A today will hang their head in shame that they supported bigotry just as many of the blatant racists of year's past now like to pretend that the were big Martin Luther King supporters when they were really attending KKK rallies. History is moving in our direction and while Chick-Fil-A may be showing big profits today their name is going to be severely tarnished by this in the long run.
That is why you must keep the boycott going no matter what the quarterly profits say, even if it appears that Chick-Fil-A is profiting off the controversy you can not give up because those profits won't last forever. Victory is not going to come overnight and there will be days like today that appear to be setbacks but in the end they will just be bumps on the road to victory. Just a few short years ago a vast majority of the country opposed gay rights, today it is pretty much split 50/50 and things are moving rapidly in our direction. The bigots are still a powerful force in this country but we have all the momentum on our side in this battle and a couple years of increased Chick-Fil-A profits are not going to change that. We need to show that we are not going to back away from a battle that needs to be fought because of the first sign of setback, we need to show them that however much they may want to believe they are winning we are going to keep fighting and we will be the ones who determine the future. Let the Chick-Fil-A boycott continue for as long as it takes to bring about equality.
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)I think they should do this every day for a year or two to REALLY prove they are serious.
msongs
(67,361 posts)npk
(3,660 posts)Also as a side note, many of these people may or may not end up having children that are gay. I just wonder how these people's views may come into stark contrast in 10-20 years when their children come to them and tell them that they are gay and their parents are then forced to tell them that they will not support their own children.
Oh I wonder.
RKP5637
(67,086 posts)they are gay. It happens all of the time.
npk
(3,660 posts)I could not imagine every doing such a thing with any of my children. But I know that some parents can truly be disgusting.
RKP5637
(67,086 posts)homeless youth are LGBT. I've known numerous people that have also fled their families for better lives, never looking back. It is so very sad. I just don't get what the BFD is about LGBT. And when one looks at the families they flee, these moralists thinking they ride the high ground in life have some very dysfunctional lives and families.
RKP5637
(67,086 posts)Raster
(20,998 posts)We don't want to convert your children. We are your children. And your brothers, your sisters, your mothers, your fathers. We are your aunts and uncles, your cousins, your friends. We are an unmistakable and immutable part of the human fabric. We will always be here.
We are not taught to be Bisexual, Lesbian, Transgendered or Gay. We are born this way. And we will continue to be born this way. And every reputable scientific study, will continue to enforce this fact.
I am sorry you are so afraid. In time you may understand. In time you may realize that hatred based on a person's sexual identity or orientation, is just a baseless and pointless as hatred based on the color of a person's skin.
And tonight, when you are alone and saying your prayers to your God above, ask him who would Jesus hate? Let me know if he answers.
Well said
Raster
(20,998 posts)zaj
(3,433 posts)Kudos to you.
Raster
(20,998 posts)doohnibor
(97 posts)Here in North Augusta, South Carolina, we have a Chick-Fil-A in the same shopping center (really a strip mall) with a Maurice's BBQ. Not only that, they are next to a Wal-Mart superstore. When you get tired of hating on the gays, you can walk over and hate on the coloreds (yes, Maurice is still stuck in the '60s fight against desegregation), and if you tire of that, you can go for some all-American union bashing by shopping at ChinaMart. Makes for a full day of hate-filled family activity!
Tell me again, why do I live in the South??
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Skittles
(153,113 posts)you live in the south for the same reason I do - it is fun to torment conservatives - admit it
doohnibor
(97 posts)If you say something too witty or well-informed, it flies overhead like a jet.
The cost of living is really cheap tho...
Skittles
(153,113 posts)that teabaggers have brought a whole new level of ignorance to conservatives; yes INDEED
coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)Last edited Thu Aug 2, 2012, 03:32 AM - Edit history (1)
patronage of said homophobic chain has not improved their lives in any respect, their patronage will slip back to regular levels. In addition to a consumer boycott, I would suggest that a rigorous campaign of dviestment (a la apartheid in South Africa and other causes) needs to ensue immediately. (I'm assuming the company is publicly traded or has outside investors who can be pressured to divest.)
Otherwise, bravo for a well argued post.
ETA: Further research has indicated that Chick-Fil-A is a privately held company, i.e., its stock is not publicly traded. So 'divestment' in the traditional sense may not be possible.
zaj
(3,433 posts)They are a Christian restaurant. They aren't even open on Sunday.
I don't know why anyone would expect anything other than an outpouring of support from right wing Christians. It's a show of support.
But Christians already flock to the place all week. I don't know if the boycott is really going to have any impact on their business. It's already slanted toward Christians to begin with.
But it's still the right thing to do in any case.
muntrv
(14,505 posts)Marr
(20,317 posts)Really, could anything be easier than getting some fat assholes to order fast food? If they'd turned out in droves to walk 20 miles or paint a fence or something, I'd be impressed with the turnout, but eating garbage? I'm sure it was on the itinerary anyway.
Tom Ripley
(4,945 posts)Beautifully said!
Turn CO Blue
(4,221 posts)zeemike
(18,998 posts)And to give the right wingers an issue to hang their hat on.
And it worked so well they will probably try it again....and we will fall for it again...and sharpen it further.
You win by building bridges not destroying them.
But what the hell...the drama is fun.
Spirochete
(5,264 posts)to hope for a salmonella outbreak?
Did I Just Type This
(77 posts)Kinda funny story, showed long lines at some mall, odd thing is, i live in boston and there aren't any in boston. Had me wondering why they would waste my time promoting the franchise instead of reporting on real news...oh that's right it's fox.
caseymoz
(5,763 posts)giving themselves heart disease to show how committed to bad ideas they are. Keep the boycott up. They impoverish themselves, gorge themselves on bad food. At the end they won't be able to keep it up and they'll be so tired of Chick-Fil-A food, they won't want to have it again for their entire lives.
And so some guy has figured out how to make some fast money on bigotry. In the long run, I'd bet on the fact that it will hurt him.
In this economy, those bigots are going to squander their hard-earned money and assistance checks on totally non-nutritious, wasteful food in a bad economy. They can't keep it up very long. Meanwhile, they're basically throwing their money to a dick who doesn't need it. That gets old fast. I'm betting they're not going to be able to keep up the gorging for very long.
Tom Ripley
(4,945 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)More and more corporations and state governments are 'coming out' in support. It's a time to celebrate as the GOP -and maybe the Catholic church?- sinks ever deeper into irrelevancy.
trotsky
(49,533 posts)They've managed to spin this - just like the birth control issue - so that the bigots don't have to defend themselves. The bigots, you see, are UNDER ATTACK by liberals/big gov't who want to take away their First Amendment rights to free speech and/or religion.
Easier to get people to support it that way.
Generic Other
(28,979 posts)mama-repub
(7 posts)bullwinkle428
(20,628 posts)which details what happened to another apparently very succcessful restaurant chain some 30 years back or so.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021061864#post7
K&R.
Gold Metal Flake
(13,805 posts)Thank you.