Posted on 10/17/2009 9:06:21 PM PDT by Cowgirl34
A Louisiana judge, Keith Bardwell, from the Tangipahoa parish is yet another symptom that racism is still a problem in America in 2009, despite the election of the first African-American President.
Justice of the peace Bardwell is now in the middle of a growing controversy, likely to end his career, after refusing to give a marriage license to an interracial couple. Barwell said he denied the license “out of concern for the couple’s future children.” Bardwell insists that he is not a racist, and that he has a lot of Black friends that he “welcome to his house, and even let them use the bathroom.”
“There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage. I think those children suffer and I won’t help put them through it,” said Bardwell. What Mr. Bardwell should comprehend is that one of the children of such marriages, between a white women & a black man, is our current President. It seems that he did pretty well in compensating for what Mr. Bardwell views as a birth handicap.
The couple, Beth Humphrey and Terrence McKay, has expressed that they will contact the US Justice Department to file a discrimination complaint. “That was one thing that made this so unbelievable. It is not something you expect in this day & age,” said Humphrey.
The ACLU has asked the Louisiana Judiciary Committee for an investigation in the case.
“It is really astonishing and disappointing to see this come up in 2009. The Supreme Court ruled in 1967 that the government cannot tell people who they can or cannot marry,” said ACLU’s Katie Schwartzmann.
She is referring to the case of Mildred Loving and her husband Richard, whose landmark lawsuit against the State of Virginia led to a Supreme Court decision in 1967 in favor of interracial couples’ right to marry.
The ruling was 42 years ago, and it was critical in the overall context of the civil rights movement. However, this case is a reminder that America has still a very long way to go, even 42 years later, to become a color blind society.
buh-lone-y.
Uh sure buddy.
"Rush, I'm a retired 20 year military officer and lifelong Republican, BUT..."
My instincts tell me that Beth is white and Terence is black, and that this judge would’ve found nothing quite so unsettling if it were the reverse. Can’t wait to see if I’m right.
Here we go again. The media is using an isolated incident to beat us "racists" over the head again.....just like their lord and master Obama likes to do.
I'm tired of this case already.
Leni
I was right!
You are right.
The man is an idiot. If he doesn’t want to fulfill the obligations of his office, he should not have taken it on.
The idiocy of this one individual is being used, as the article shows, to “prove” that America is still a racist society.
This judge needs to go away.
I don’t think that this case has so much to do with race as it does to gay marriage. This is a case that they are going to use to equate gay marriage with the intolerance of interracial marriage in the past.
“...they’s miscegenatin’!!!!”
I am sure the media is salivating over the possibilities for analogy.
The same issue applies, of course. If your position requires you to marry those who have the legal right to get married, you should resign your position if you disagree with the state on who has this legal right.
As a state official he is in a different position from a private citizen who decides not to provide business services to certain couples.
Ah...this dude sounds like a racist to me.
This case of white racism draws wide attention and outrage.
The torture-murder of an interacial couple by black racists gets none.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/4_Marines_Charged_in_Murder_of_Marine_Wife.html
I especially liked the bathroom remark. A true classic!
Yes, It’s a sign that there are still idiots in the world and the media will use them.
I've experienced similar things. I was once told by a white man I could be his neighbor anytime...that he wouldn't object to me moving onto his street. As if I needed his permission.
Some people just don't get it.
Yep, the guy will be tossed if he doesn’t quit. The other side of this story is that yes...there might be a higher divorce rate with the set-up of black guys and white wives...but it’s not the government’s job or some government official’s job to prevent stupid marriages. The government’s only function is to marry folks, period.
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