Just when I thought people were over discriminating black and white dating, something happens that makes me believe how prejudicial we as a country still are. A justice of peace Keith Bardwell in the northern Louisiana’s Tangihapoa Parish, refused to grant a marriage license to a black and white dating couple who wanted to tie the knot.
Beth Humphrey, who is white, said she and her boyfriend, Terence McKay who is black had called the Justice to get their marriage license signed but Justice Bardwell’s wife told Humphrey that Bardwell wont sign marriage licenses for interracial couples.
So what is so wrong with black and white dating and marriages that the justice is so against? Well, much as Bardwell claimed he is not racist, this is what he told the Hammond, Louisiana, Daily Star: “I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house. My main concern is for the children.”
Children? Yeah right. Apparently the Justice of peace was quoted by the paper 99 percent of the time saying that an interracial couple is one that consists of a black man and white woman. So does this mean that other interracial couples besides black and white don’t qualify as interracial couples? Does this mean he signs marriage licenses for other interracial couples but black and white dating couples?
Clearly, Bardwell has something against black and white dating. And apparently, he has a policy of not marrying ‘interracial couples’ who fit his description of the phrase… black and white couples.
The justice goes on to say that neither black nor white society accepts the children of an interracial couple; therefore the children suffer as a result. “In my heart, I feel the children will later suffer”
It is an outrage to hear that someone who has been in the judicial system for as long as he has can be so against black and white dating and marriage. This is so unconstitutional. This is so un-American. What he did to that Humphrey and McKay is blatant discrimination. And much as racial discrimination has been a violation of Louisiana and U.S. law for decades, it’s a shame for a public official to decide which laws he wants to follow.
