Forty-two years after Loving v. Virginia, interracial couple denied marriage license

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http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/1...under-fire-for-refusing-interracial-marriage/

Louisiana justice under fire for refusing interracial marriage
Posted: 08:54 PM ET

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) — Civil rights advocates in eastern Louisiana are calling for a justice of the peace of Tangipahoa Parish to resign after he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple.

“He’s an elected public official and one of his duties is to marry people, he doesn’t have the right to say he doesn’t believe in it,” said Patricia Morris, president of the NAACP branch of Tangipahoa Parish, located near the Mississippi line. “If he doesn’t do what his position call for him to do, he should resign from that position.”

The demands for Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace for Tangipahoa Parish’s 8th Ward, to step down came after he wouldn’t issue a marriage license to Beth Humphrey, 30, and her boyfriend, Terence McKay, 32, both of Hammond.

Bardwell and the couple didn’t immediately return calls from CNN Thursday. However, Bardwell told the Hammond’s Daily Star that he was concerned for the children who may be born of the relationship and that, in his experience, most interracial marriages don’t last.

“I’m not a racist,” Bardwell told the newspaper. “I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house. My main concern is for the children.” Bardwell, stressing he couldn’t personally endorse the marriage, referred the couple to another justice of the peace.

The bride says the case boils down to discrimination. Humphrey told the Daily Star that she called Bardwell on October 6 to ask about getting a marriage license, and was asked by his wife if it would be an interracial marriages. Humphrey said she was told that Bardwell does not sign off on interracial marriages.

“I don’t understand this because he is an elected official and discrimination is against the law,” Humphrey told the newspaper.

Morris told CNN that her NAACP chapter has forwarded the case to the state and national levels of the civil rights group. According to the Census Bureau, Tangipahoa Parish is about 70 percent white and 30 percent black.

CNN’s Samira Simone contributed to this report.
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While the man is entitled to his opinion, as an agent of the state he shouldn't get to openly defy the law like that.
 
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Re: Fifty-one years after Loving v. Virginia...

Yeah, if it was a priest or a church who refused them, I could understand, but a JotP? Jesus.
 
Re: Fifty-one years after Loving v. Virginia...

I honestly can see where he's coming from on the children's aspect. Mixed babies tend to be made fun of (I should know...) from the black community. Really, being half-black/white for me meant no black friends as they thought I was a cracker.

I say the couple go get married by another Justice of the Peace, and if he's against interracial marriages, how long has this been going on and few have noticed?
 
Re: Fifty-one years after Loving v. Virginia...

why is mixed race only an issue when it involves blacks anyways? im mixed race ((white/Asian)) and i never had a problem at school with other people because of it. black kids should lighten up.
 
Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.

Source: Associated Press

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."
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Re: Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.

I can't believe stuff like that still happens in the US. I mean, interracial marriage hasn't been against the law for decades now and it shouldn't be that big a problem in this day and age! That's horrible.
 
Re: Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.

Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.
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That could be said for a lot of US marriages... Without factoring in race.
 
Re: Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.

Yeah, this is bad. This shouldn't happen at all.
 
Re: Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.

But guys, he has PILES AND PILES OF BLACK FRIENDS! HE LETS THEM USE HIS BATHROOM!

This was on sf_drama last night, it was unanimously agreed there the guy is a racist douchebag.
 
Re: Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.

So he intends to help the children who would be discriminated against...by adding to discrimination? Someone hit this guy with the Clue-By-Four.

Also he's going to have a lot fewer "black friends" when they find out about how he talks about them.
 
Re: Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.

RACIST!
 
Re: Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.

Obligatory gif is obligatory:
thats_racist.gif
 
Re: Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.

Evil Figment beat you to the story Saturn! XD
 
Re: Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.

I like the fact that he won't marry them because, "OMG, THINK OF THE CHILDREN!"

Because we don't have children out of wedlock, and certainly don't have bastard children that are of mixed races. I certainly don't see white mothers who-might-be-single carting around black children when I'm walking around NYC. Or riding public transport to the college.
 
Re: Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.

Its pathetically sad that his opinion isnt that rare. If I had a dime for every time I have heard a 'adult' talk about a interracial couple and how persecuted their children would be while I was growing up.

One thing I cannot get, is while that may have been true in say 1960 when blacks and whites were at each others throats, it isn't today. Some of these 'adults' that believe this really need to check out a modern day school, see how these children are treated compared to the 60s and 70s.

Anyway if this idiot really wants to have such a pathetic and out of date opinion. I suggest a pathetic and out of date punishment, like say 12 hours in the middle of the local mall in the stockades.
 
Re: Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.

oh dear oh dear
It saddens me to see these things still happen his views are his views and they should not be brought into his job
i mean in our hospitals people have been disciplined for offering to pray for a patient because it might discriminate against other religions
sometimes i think the US is still about 50 years behind when it comes to reace relations
 
Re: Fifty-one years after Loving v. Virginia...

Nicoleta01 said:
I honestly can see where he's coming from on the children's aspect. Mixed babies tend to be made fun of (I should know...) from the black community. Really, being half-black/white for me meant no black friends as they thought I was a cracker.
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The problem is, children are horrid little things. If they don'T reject and make fun of someone because he's mixed race, they'll do it over, say, that person being small. Or smelly. Or having funny hair. Or over no particular reason, just because Big Bully #1 said so.
 
Re: Forty-two years after Loving v. Virginia, interracial couple denied marriage lice

His excuse is weak at best. I mean, a man who was the child of an interracial marriage is currently PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Any kids these two have will not have problems specifically because they're of mixed heritage.

The judge is just a bigot, no further explanation needed.
 
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