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Bigotry based on race is just plain wrong. If it was bigotry based on sexual orientation then it would be okay and they guy should get a medal.
I know bigotry is widely accepted in society but I hope he doesn't just get off with a slap on the wrist.
NEW ORLEANS – A white Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have.
Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.
"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."
Bardwell said he asks everyone who calls about marriage if they are a mixed race couple. If they are, he does not marry them, he said.
Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.
"There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage," Bardwell said. "I think those children suffer and I won't help put them through it."
If he did an interracial marriage for one couple, he must do the same for all, he said.
"I try to treat everyone equally," he said.
Bardwell estimates that he has refused to marry about four couples during his career, all in the past 2 1/2 years.
Beth Humphrey, 30, and 32-year-old Terence McKay, both of Hammond, say they will consult the U.S. Justice Department about filing a discrimination complaint.
Humphrey, an account manager for a marketing firm, said she and McKay, a welder, just returned to Louisiana. She is white and he is black. She plans to enroll in the University of New Orleans to pursue a masters degree in minority politics.
"That was one thing that made this so unbelievable," she said. "It's not something you expect in this day and age."
Humphrey said she called Bardwell on Oct. 6 to inquire about getting a marriage license signed. She says Bardwell's wife told her that Bardwell will not sign marriage licenses for interracial couples. Bardwell suggested the couple go to another justice of the peace in the parish who agreed to marry them.
"We are looking forward to having children," Humphrey said. "And all our friends and co-workers have been very supportive. Except for this, we're typical happy newlyweds."
"It is really astonishing and disappointing to see this come up in 2009," said American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana attorney Katie Schwartzmann. She said the Supreme Court ruled in 1967 "that the government cannot tell people who they can and cannot marry."
The ACLU sent a letter to the Louisiana Judiciary Committee, which oversees the state justices of the peace, asking them to investigate Bardwell and recommending "the most severe sanctions available, because such blatant bigotry poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the administration of justice."
"He knew he was breaking the law, but continued to do it," Schwartzmann said.
According to the clerk of court's office, application for a marriage license must be made three days before the ceremony because there is a 72-hour waiting period. The applicants are asked if they have previously been married. If so, they must show how the marriage ended, such as divorce.
Other than that, all they need is a birth certificate and Social Security card.
The license fee is $35, and the license must be signed by a Louisiana minister, justice of the peace or judge. The original is returned to the clerk's office.
"I've been a justice of the peace for 34 years and I don't think I've mistreated anybody," Bardwell said. "I've made some mistakes, but you have too. I didn't tell this couple they couldn't get married. I just told them I wouldn't do it."
Bigotry based on race is just plain wrong. If it was bigotry based on sexual orientation then it would be okay and they guy should get a medal.
Think I first heard this quote about 25 years ago and still don't really comprehend it."I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way,"
This guys full of common sense
"I try to treat everyone equally," he said.
Big f'n deal just go to someone else. Why turn this into a big ass ordeal? It's not like we don't already know that people are idiots.
There are millions upon millions of situations that I could easily sit back and say "stupid, who cares, just move along". This isn't one of them. This guy deserves a storm of ing rained down. This kind of bigotry is a big ing deal. Huge deal.
This old guy demonstrates the need for further mixing of the gene pool.
That mother er said he had piles and piles of black friends!! WTF!?
Last edited by The Franchise; 10-16-2009 at 02:40 PM.
That mother ers said he had piles and piles of black friends!! WTF!?I LOL'd at that.
I think what makes what he's saying so racist is that he actually believes he's doing the couple a favor.
I believe that he does have "piles and piles of black friends". He probably has them buried in piles somewhere on his property.
I really don't give a though. To me it's a small ing deal. Tiny deal.
I have a hard time understanding how you can just sweep this under the rug. He denied them their free rights under the premise of bigotry. Pretty big deal.
What this dumbass doesn't realize, is that he is probably mixed himself. Back in the day massah used to hit up the slave houses and tap that fat black ass on them sistahs when the big mandingo bucks were sent into the fields. Massah thought he was getting away with murder, but little did he know that mandingo was up at his plantation home at the same time drillin Mrs. Daisy. , just look at all the folks in Louisiana...........they are all mutts............... creole and such.
The good news for all of you is that stupid like this is precisely why my dad decided he wanted nothing to do with the state of Louisiana and moved as soon as he could. If he'd stuck around Baton Rouge I might be posting on Hornets Talk instead.
I am saddened and angered by this news, but not exactly shocked. If his reasoniing completely in the interests of the children, would he marry them if they could prove the guy was shooting blanks? There's more to marriage than just having kids.
I mean who cares really? All people have to do is stop throwing business his way. When they go looking for a JP and his name comes up they can just refuse him. Big f'n deal!
I consider it a crime. Its like saying "don't mind that guy who stabs people, just don't walk down his street".
Letting people get away with this kind of behavior doesn't accomplish anything.
Everyone has their prejudices. If I went there to get married and he told me he wouldn't do it because of whatever I would just be like fine eff you and move on. It's really not that complicated.
If he would have told me that I would have probably hit him.
I'd buy this guy a beer for standing up for what he believed. I mean everyone is so chicken of what others think and they just go with what others tell them is right. This dude said f that I don't want to see any mullattos running around because then I know that more than likely the father split.
No offense, but if that's your response, then a scenario such as the one presented above A) will never happen to you so you don't care or B) you're allowing yourself to be a walking doormat.
People back in the day were told they couldn't go to the same schools, restaurants because of their skin color. Would your response be "just find another school"?
The judge should have his ass whupped.
Good for him. But his racist beliefs shouldn't stop a couple from getting married. This isn't an example of free speech or anything.
We aren't "back in the day" We are living now where there are options. I am not white either so you can't pull that card out on me.
His beliefs didn't have to stop them. I'll put down a hundred bucks that he isn't the only JP in their area.
This. I would have knocked the dude the out. That's absolutely ridiculous. in bigot.
I'm gonna lol if this couple gets divorced, just like the first lesbian couple to get married got divorced.
Knocked him out for what? Not believing like you do? Why wouldn't you just flip the bird and go to another JP? Sounds kind of stupid that you would hit someone just because he doesn't see things the way you do.
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