Clyburn’s view on older African Americans, Buttigieg just doesn’t jibe with reality

It was a moment that you couldn’t possibly make up.

And that’s exactly why I wish U.S. Rep. James Clyburn had been there.

Not long ago I was in Drake’s Duck-In restaurant to have lunch with Alvin McEwen, a Columbia black gay man whose award-winning blog “Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters” takes on the damaging myths about the LGBT community.

Over baskets of piping-hot fried chicken, McEwen and I talked about Rep. Clyburn’s recent suggestion that older African Americans won’t support Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg because he’s openly gay.

As we ate, McEwen eloquently bemoaned the tendency of so many people to make sweeping, broad generalizations about older black Americans and how they view those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

“This belief that all older African Americans have some knee-jerk intolerance for people in the LGBT community just isn’t accurate in daily life,” McEwen said. “The actual picture is nothing like the picture that we allow to be painted all the time. It just isn’t.”

Then it happened.

Suddenly inside the restaurant, a loud voice rose above the white noise of lunchtime conversations and old-school R&B music. It was the voice of a Duck-In cashier who had walked from behind the counter to the middle of the dining room — her hand covering the mouthpiece of the cordless phone she was holding.

“Is there an Alvin in here?!” she yelled. “An Alvin?! If there is, your mother says to order her something to eat!”

It took a moment, but then it dawned on McEwen: he was the “Alvin” who was being called out.

And he began to laugh.

“My mother knew I was going to be here, and I guess she couldn’t get me on my cell because we’ve been talking,” McEwen told me. “Well, let me go order something to take back to her. When your mother tells you to do something, you better do it.”

It was a moment that perfectly captured the actual relationship that so many older African Americans have each day with those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

It reflected the fact that countless older African Americans have children who are LGBT.

Or grandchildren.

Or great-grandchildren.

Or a myriad of other people in their lives who are LGBT — individuals they love unconditionally and thoroughly regardless of sexuality.

These are realities.

And given these realities, why would anyone believe that these same older African Americans — people who have already shown their capacity to love those they know are LGBT — would reflexively recoil at the idea of voting for a presidential candidate solely because he’s also part of the LGBT community?

It defies logic.

And it’s why Rep. Clyburn’s comments weren’t merely illogical — they were also breathtakingly archaic.

No, I am not saying this to take a gratuitous shot at the congressman.

And, yes, I am saying this with these two qualifiers:

▪ Clyburn did note that his grandson works for Buttigieg’s campaign, and he also said Buttigieg may face fewer obstacles winning over young black voters because of the generational differences between younger and older African Americans.

▪ I have a massive amount of respect for Clyburn in general.

After all, there is a reason why Clyburn serves as the majority whip in the U.S. House of Representatives — he’s a legislative icon who has unquestionably been a great public servant for South Carolina and our country alike.

And from a selfish standpoint, I appreciated how graciously Clyburn greeted me when I introduced myself to him at the Columbia Urban League’s recent dinner (during which he received an award from the organization). I’m still a relative newcomer to this area, and the congressman’s thoughtfulness meant a lot to me.

He’s a good man.

But it is possible to have deep regard for an admirable figure and still deeply disagree with their flawed mindset on an issue — and there’s an obligation to make that distinction when it comes to Clyburn’s comments on older African Americans, Buttigieg and the LGBT community.

Why?

Because the congressman’s comments marginalize the real-life experience of Jeff Harrell, a gay black man whose parents grew to wholeheartedly embrace his longtime relationship with — and eventual marriage to — his partner, Douglas Onley.

“During the last few years of my mother’s life, she would call Doug more than she would call me,” Harrell said with a smile.

And the congressman’s comments depreciate the real-life perspective of David Alexander, who tirelessly works each day to erase the ignorance that still stubbornly exists in Columbia about HIV — yet comes home each evening to a neighborhood full of older African Americans who have formed tight bonds with Alexander and his partner, Gerald McNair.

“Gerald’s mother lives right across the street,” Alexander said, “and she’s our No. 1 fan. It’s a real blessing.”

These are real-life experiences — real-life perspectives — that don’t deserve to be dismissed.

And the older African Americans who are part of these daily realities don’t deserve to be dismissed as people who would blindly reject voting for someone simply because he’s gay — and they’re black.

They already prove each day that their hearts are much bigger than that.

They already prove each day that their minds are much more open than that.

And if Rep. Clyburn happens to have lunch at the Duck-In at just the right moment, he might just get all the proof he clearly still needs.

Opinion Editor Roger Brown can be reached at rjbrown@thestate.com and at (803) 771-8464. Follow him on Twitter@RBrown_SCOpin.