Yes, New Jersey's conservative Republican governor gets the side-eye for making this asinine comment, as if black civil rights and the gay rights movement are comparable. One is generally genetic, and the other trait is arguably at least somewhat rooted in behavioral choice. Um, black folks were fighting for enforcement of pre-existing constitutional law (more specifically, the 14th and 15th Amendments): "In a comment related to his call for a voter referendum on the proposal to legalize gay marriage in New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday, 'People would have been happy to have referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South.' The governor, who on Tuesday called for a referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot that would ask voters to decide if the state should legalize same-sex marriage, also said he will veto the Democratic legislation to allow it when the proposal reaches his desk."
The article continues about Governor Christie's comments: "The comment that the civil rights movement of the 1960s could have been settled through a national or southern states voter referendum stunned Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver (D-Essex), who became the first African-American woman to head the lower house in 2010. 'Gov. Christie better sit down with some of New Jersey’s great teachers for a history lesson, because his puzzling comment shows a complete misunderstanding about the civil rights movement,' Oliver said. 'It’s impossible to ever conceive that a referendum on civil rights in the South would have been successful and brought justice to minorities. It’s unfathomable to even suggest a referendum would have been the better course."
SIDE-EYE POST OF THE DAY: Chris Christie: "The Civil Rights Movement Could've Been Settled Through Referendum"
