Interracial Couple Denied Marriage License in Louisiana
By Nicole Belle Friday Oct 16, 2009 5:00amWhat decade are these people living in, anyway?
A 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.
Neither Bardwell nor the couple immediately returned phone calls from The Associated Press. But Bardwell told the Daily Star of Hammond that he was not a racist.
"I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house," Bardwell said. "My main concern is for the children."
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.
"I don't do interracial marriages because I don't want to put children in a situation they didn't bring on themselves," Bardwell said. "In my heart, I feel the children will later suffer."
If he does an interracial marriage for one couple, he must do the same for all, he said.
"I try to treat everyone equally," he said.
Yeah, he's a regular humanitarian. Not sure if this guy is up on his history or legal precedents but Loving v. Virginia made this kind of government interference illegal in 1967.
He might think he's not racist, but he sure as hell is being bigoted and needs to step down. As you might expect, the ACLU has picked up this case and will pursue it for the couple.
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gonna go out on a limb here and guess that this guy supported McCain/Palin last November
That another mixed race marriage will produce another Barack Obama, President of the United States!
His "justification" is all the more embarrassingly stupid given a half-black/half-white kid just grew up to be president.
golf player, either.
end of FREAKIN' message
on a limb, because that's where you find the fruit.
In fairness, the guy just refused to marry them, it's not like they were denied outright to be married. However, that doesn't change the blatant ignorance by the JP.
JPs in the south are a rather funny lot. I used to cover county politics rather briefly and one of my coworkers picked up this gem from a JP during a public meeting: "When are we going to stop trying to tell elected officials what to do. Our job is to spend the taxpayers' money the best way we can."
The guy isn't racist (he hates humans?). He's just a sad pathetic excuse for a vertebrate.
.
When one uses RACE as their reason to judge others, in this case it's the hardship that HE thinks future(read: NOT BORN YET) children of mixed race marriages endure, then it is RACISM!
IF he cared about the hardship endured by bi-racial children, he might have spoke out about THAT! But THAT wasn't what he was offended by, now was it?
Is he seeking to further educate the community, at large, about the disdain he perceives to be rampant? OR...
... Is he contributing TO THAT RAMPANT DISDAIN by condemning bi-racial marriages that produce bi-racial children?
IT IS RACISM!
HE IS NOT THINKING OF THE CHILDREN...
... HE'S THINKING, "These godamned bi-racial marriages produce bi-racial children and I can't be responsible THAT!"
He's using CHILDREN as his fodder for his RACISM.
.
bottom line this guy is a fucking racist.....
despite what he claims.......he does not have
the right to make decisions for other people.
most of America does not care who the parents are.
GROW UP YOU ASSHOLE.
The suggestion that the JP was a McCain/Palin supporter does not imply that those on the right are racists. It implies that racists support the right. There's a difference.
You assume that racists support those on the right, but the truth of the matter is that there are racists on both sides. Robert Byrd was formerly with the KKK. He is a Democrat. Van Jones has made racial comments as well. He too is on the left. I don't deny that there are racists out there on the right. I don't know any personally, but for you to say that they favor the right is ridiculous.
played while he read his verdict.
is what I have pictured for what the judge looks like
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0Dg1gdWxAM&NR=1
and into what century?
Beat me to it. I wonder how old the Justice of the Peace is? Even in the unreconstructed South, it's hard to imagine a person under the age of 40 (or even 50) who would feel justified acting this way.
Trust me, there's plenty of cavemen still wandering the south in their pickup trucks and confredrit' flags. Having a black president really galls the shit out of 'em too!
See? Its society's fault. If only society were more tolerant, he'd have no problem marrying them
I'm looking forward to hearing about this guy losing his job. And hopefully all he owns in a civil suit.
... It's "BLACK SOCIETY'S FAULT" according to the JP.
A white Justice of the Peace decides it's Black society's fault.
IT'S HIS FAULT THAT HE'S A RACIST!
and call out the entire South for the goddamn ignorant bigotry that they seem so proud of.
Only don't be too offended if most of us don't respond to you. We're too busy screaming at bigots. They don't really listen to us either.
I know this continually shocks people, but not all Southerners are goddamn ignorant bigots. Those G.I.B.'s may be more vocal, and may get more attention, but there ARE other people south of the Mason-Dixon line.
following the death of my father. They were occasionally harassed in Orange County (CA) before moving to N. Arizona a couple of years ago.
They have friends (another interracial couple) who were married in and live in Alabama. Who knew that AL is more "progressive" than New Orleans?
I sent them this article late last night and am waiting for their comments later today.
Tangipahoa Parish is not where New Orleans is. It's north. The entire Parish has only about 100K population.
The JP, and many more of his kind, are terminally brain-damaged from chronic anemia.
The mosquitoes in Louisiana are numerous enough to carry off a child, and gang up on you to try to slam your car windows out. They can filter through an auto's vents, and most of them believe that your DEET-laden repellent is the equivalent of an appetizer and first course.
Furthermore, this fellow is totally ignorant of Louisiana history and precedent. Hasn't he ever heard of a Coonass Cajun? These are descendants of interracial Louisiana liaisons.
How many couple did this asshat marry that abused there kids, or their spouse, which all happened to be of the same race? Is he willing to take resposibility for all those?
At least the evil kwwwwweeeeers can't get married.
This ass's head would explode if a white guy and a black guy wanted to get married.
... in addition to the whole mixed-race thing, the judge's ruling is based on the welfare of children that do not actually exist? Hello?
Let's see, my wife and I (mixed race) have been together for 13 years. The parents of my godson (mixed race) have been together for 18 years. My sister and her husband (mixed race) have been together for 14 years. Stable marriages all, children being properly raised and educated.
Go to hell, Judge Doofus.
They and their kids look pretty happy to me:
http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/kids/blog/w...
What if they didn't want children? It's none of his concern what they do after they get married, I hope the ACLU nails this jerk.
... 'we all want what's best for the children' always means WE (people who have the same prejudices as I do) want to control what YOU (the people who I am prejudiced against) get to do. Because *I* am right, *GOD* is on my side, and YOU are grimy little mudpeople, nothing like us pure white Christian folk.
I'm about sick of the "it's for the children" mantra. These horrible people seem to think that if they use that phrase it is a "get out of jail free card" and allows them to do and say whatever they want.
And then somehow they get to pat themselves on the back because they are such "oh so good" people.
It's time we all as a society started calling BULLSHIT on these lying hypocrites whenever they use that phrase.
... if you, the opponent, doesn't agree with their statement, then it implies that you are sick, stupid, or otherwise flawed.
"I'm sure we all agree on what is pornography." = If you don't agree with me, you must be one of those sick bastards who like to ogle naked women ...
Clearly the guy is bigoted racist. Any 'justification' given is pure BS.
The anti interracial marriage nutters argued that God put the races on different continents so that that couldn't marry. Letting them marry was against God's will.
I wonder if anyone pointed out that America was started by white's changing continents?
...they did try to wipe out the inhabitants wherever they went. Thats very godly.
that kind of crap should NOT be tolerated for one second.
quite a few children of mixed coupleage in that state....
Cause I'm sure he hates them all.
Why one of the Heroes of the GOP at the New GOP.com was none other
than Pinckey B.S. Pinchback. Mr. Pinchback was biracial and the first
Governor of a US state to have African American heritage!
He was Acting Governor of Louisiana!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._B._S._Pinchback
...saying that he wasn't denying them a marriage license. He just wasn't going to give it to them himself.
ASS-HAT! You, sir, are a public servant! You don't get to make that choice.
Would that change his opinion then? Why the F does marriage always have to be about having kids? I don't really want to have kids, but I plan on getting married eventually. I mean what about people that cannot physically have kids? Do we just deny them from marriage too?
Interracial kids...look at Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods, Mariah Carey, Vin Diesel. They're all accepted by society. Oh wait I get it now...Obama's bi-racial & they don't accept him. I see the root of the problem here!
... because it's Christian. The whole point of marriage is to have kids. Marriage is for sex, sex is for procreation.
F* that Preacher! I think his church should be disassembled brick by brick... out of concern for the product it produces.
he's not a preacher. He's not a judge.
He's a justice of the peace. JotP < Sheriff
...Because surely, a "purebred" white or black child's life is nothing but sunshine and roses, and the only children who ever have a hard time of it is inter-racial children.
Also, he does know that marriage is not what unlocks the uterus, allowing babies to be made? I mean, I figured it out sometime after I was three or four years old that when people said "marriage and children" that is wasn't the *act of marriage* that produced the children.
So if this dipshit is really oh-so-concerned with the welfare and happiness of those mixed-race children, he should stop putting unnecessary strain on their parents and start working to abolish race-based discrimination in his area altogether.
Saying that you won't marry an couple of two different races because their children are going to be picked on is like me saying I'm going to go live in a cardboard box under the bridge because I'm afraid I'd stub my toe on the clutter in the floors of my house.
How can one not expect this type of crap to go on given the hostility towards gay marriage in some sections of the population? If people are enabling discrimination, then nonsense like this happens.
Whenever you hear, "I'm not a racist, but...", you know you are about to hear some stupid stuff.
Now, if he wanted to deny license to people under 25, I could be ok with that, I don't believe in marriage too young.
I got married at 23. It was earlier than I ever intended, but I'd found the right woman and was not about to pass her up just because I wasn't 25 yet. Keep your agism to yourself.
I entered an interracial marriage at the age of 19! Now our daughter is about to enter medical school and my lovely wife and I are about to celebrate our 32nd anniversary.
I wouldn't change a moment of it.
"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."
Speaks for itself.
cousins, no problem! "I just don't believe in mixing the races that way." I guess Hitler wasn't a racist, either - he just didn't believe in mixing the races "that way."
in what ways he would mix races.
Non-whites can marry other non-whites.
Dey jus'n can't marra whites.
"Hell, I even let 'em use the silverware and dishes".
OK, maybe in any state in the south, actually.
My real hope is that we will get to a point where this kind of headline shocks us even when it's aabout a gay couple being denied a marriage license.
... where Proposition 8 was passed. None of the people in favor of the damned thing have any facts or logical arguments, it all comes down to their favorite little book.
I think we need to put an initiative on the ballot to require people to observe the REST of Leviticus.
I look forward to the outcome, I hope the couple has a long happy marriage kids or no kids. America is supposed to be a melting pot, but this asshole didn't get the memo. Maybe this is a teabagger getting his damn hate on our biracial president, fuck him.
I remember reading somewhere that interracial couples have lower divorce rates than same race couples.
C'mon, every body knows "momma white, daddy black, most susceptible to a crack attack."
Present President excluded.
[/obscure musical reference]
Can we just expel the old Confederacy all ready? We'd all be happier -- the rest of us wouldn't get dragged down in the international league tables by them anymore, and they'd be able to happily exercise their prejudices and struggle to keep up with Mexico.
There is so much unclear with this story:
1) does a justice of the peace actually have the right to decide who gets married, assuming that all the legal requirements are met?
2) how does the justice know that the couple will have kids? what if they tell him they will not have kids, can they still get married by him? Or what if neither partner has a family, so no one not to accept the child. Can they still get married?
3) where does the justice get his scientific evidence that bi-racial children are any better or worse off than any other children? Does his logic only apply to black/white bi-racial children? what about chinese/white children, or Chinese/black children, or what about say a Southern European Latin heritage/Northern European mix, say a Scottish/Italian mix? Where does it stop and where does he draw the lines?
4) How does he define what "accepting" the children mean? Does that mean that one of the families will not speak to the children or not give them candy? Maybe not invite the children to Christmas dinner? etc. Do all white/white couple's children get a lot of acceptance always from their families? Where do you draw the line of the meaning of acceptance?
5) What about say if a skinny person and a fat person want to marry? Maybe their kids will not do well? Or two fat people, or two skinniy people, or a smoker and a boozer, or a some one with curly hair and another with straight or no hair, maybe glasses? Does he worry about other perameters? or just the straight racial family element?
6) So he has never done an inter-racial marriage before? Why? He infers this with the statement, if I do one inter-racial marriage I will have to do them all. Does he not want to make money, there is a big market out there for inter-racial. Does his belief of what is good for the kids outweigh his desire to make money?
7) What about if the person is already half white/half black, who can that person marry, a black person or a white person, or nobody? How does the justice define what exactly a white or black person is?
8) Is he sure that most of black and white society, which is pretty much everybody, does not accept inter-racial children? Really? Or is it just this guy?
How much do you want to bet this guy is a Republican voter? He fits the stereotype.
Yeah, his kind will see to that.......
I cannot believe the senator from Louisiana (D-Landrieu) will vote against healthcare reform, because she wants to cater to idiots in her state like this guy. Vitter I can understand, because these are his people.
begin with, "I'm not a racist" and then continue on to prove that they are with every word uttered. (Glen Beck, I'm looking at you).
My mother, RIP, as she aged and dementia took hold, starting watching fox news non-stop cause Bill O'Reilly was the only one who "tells it like it is."
She would go on these rants about the n---'s (I had never heard that word growing up) and how mixing with the whites was causing Amerika to become a "mongoloid" nation. She actually had it implanted in what was left of her brain and knew it to be true.
This coming from a product of Italian immigrants who married a product of Spanish immigrants and produced two little "mongoloids" of her own.
She never saw the irony.
Children don't even bring on their own existence themselves and any child is going to deal with crap at some point, what with life being full of bad stuff (and good stuff, too, hopefully). Would the justice of the peace favor an end to procreation in order to spare more theoretical children from suffering?
"I don't do interracial marriages because I don't want to put children in a situation they didn't bring on themselves,"
I wonder if this guy's white hood is back from the cleaners yet.
. . . but it never actually happens
He woulda married a man to a sheep with NO problem.
So many in his area share similar mental capabilities with the sheep.
I get so disgusted with this phony concern for "the children" if those children happen to be mixed. Sure, some of us have to put up with bullshit from ignorant people (I could tell you all a few stories, such as when I was in 6th grade and a substitute teacher barked "What are you!" at me when I responded to roll call), but it's the fault of the ignorant, not us, and I certainly am glad my parents partnered with each other, married, and then had me! I've had a bit of a rough life, but my ethnic/racial background had little to do with it! Not to mention, growing up, I saw children having it even worse, and they were "full-blooded" white...
Assholes like this guy would just prefer that people like President Obama, myself, many of my cousins, and many of our society in general just not exist to begin with. That's what it all comes down to, in my opinion.
I would think the grounds for a lawsuit here are pretty strong.
Whenever someone says, “I’m not a racist,” I know the next statement is going to be a doozy.
Article: "Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long."
Do most -any- marriages last long?! Divorce is a sign of modern and free societies. Love is not an important factor in "traditional marriage" that these bigots preach about. It is purely for survival. In the modern world people actually marry for love. The world where a woman can have a career.
As much negativity as the word divorce has with it, it's ubiquitous in the first world.
As for this JP, he should be taken straight to jail for this clear denial of Constitutional rights.
Article: "I don't do interracial marriages because I don't want to put children in a situation they didn't bring on themselves," Bardwell said. "In my heart, I feel the children will later suffer."
My sister has been in a biracial marriage for 16 years. Her 3 children are just f***ing fine. Also, nobody wants your damn sympathy. Sympathy is arrogance. Sympathy is the feeling of one's self being superior to another.
What people want is respect.
No thanks. The idea of living in a dictatorship doesn't sound fun. I am sure it's fun for the dictator and those who share his beliefs, but not for society of diverse peoples, cultures, and beliefs.
Apparently your master's degree puts you in the category of educated idiot. I don't know whether or not you're a Confederate (apparently proper capitalization and punctuation weren't part of your degree field). I suppose it's marginally possible that you could support this fool's right to act like a moron without supporting his racist beliefs, but I seriously doubt that's the case. So, I think I'll go ahead and refer to you as a racist, K?
Oh, and pack your IQ in your duffel bag, dude. My IQ is 164 (which, along with $4, will get you a cup of coffee). Your measly 138 still puts you in the simple-minded wanker category after all.
The irony is that the only reason such kids would have a hard time is because of biggots like Bardwell.
Obama didn't seem to have a tough time with being biracial growing up. Probably because he didn't live on the biggot mainland back then (or the South even today).
Maybe people like Bardwell are scared that biracial kids will recognize just how racist their state is. Have both a white and black parent really highlights the racism by the way one's white mother is treated and then how the black father is treated by the same people. It's very prevalent.
Tangipahoa Parish has another claim to fame: It was the filming location for In the Heat of the Night, the TV show about race and the law.
See:
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/10/1...
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