Interracial couple denied marriage license in Louisiana

inmytree
inmytree Posts: 4,741
edited November 2009 in A Moving Train
coo coo Crazy Cooter couldn't bring himself to marry this couple... :cry:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091016/ap_ ... ial_rebuff

Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.
By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer Mary Foster, Associated Press Writer Fri Oct 16, 4:50 am ET

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."
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • blackredyellow
    blackredyellow Posts: 5,889
    wow... just wow...

    I hope they get him fired and sue him for everything that he has.

    inmytree wrote:
    "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."

    Maybe because there are people like you out there, Bardwell...
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • cincybearcat
    cincybearcat Posts: 16,851
    Unbelievable. Should be fired, not fit for duty.
    hippiemom = goodness
  • WaveCameCrashin
    WaveCameCrashin Posts: 2,929
    How can he even get away with something like
    that? I bet you would find some white sheets hanging in his closet.
  • Claireack
    Claireack Posts: 13,561
    What! This is ridiculous! Really didn't think this kind of thing happened anymore. :shock:
    <a href="http://s952.photobucket.com/albums/ae8/catkinson_2009/?action=view&current=domo.jpg&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i952.photobucket.com/albums/ae8/catkinson_2009/domo.jpg&quot; border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
  • g under p
    g under p Surfing The far side of THE Sombrero Galaxy Posts: 18,237
    blackredyellow wrote:
    wow... just wow...

    I hope they get him fired and sue him for everything that he has.

    inmytree wrote:
    "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."

    Maybe because there are people like you out there, Bardwell...

    wow is right, where does mr baldwell gets to determine whether a couple's child suffer or not. Some still say race doesn't matter or isn't a factor in this country in this day and age.

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


  • blackredyellow
    blackredyellow Posts: 5,889
    g under p wrote:
    blackredyellow wrote:
    wow... just wow...

    I hope they get him fired and sue him for everything that he has.

    inmytree wrote:
    "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."

    Maybe because there are people like you out there, Bardwell...

    wow is right, where does mr baldwell gets to determine whether a couple's child suffer or not. Some still say race doesn't matter or isn't a factor in this country in this day and age.

    Peace

    Maybe he'll be interviewed about this and break out into a "won't somebody please think of the children?" moment :)
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • urbanhippie
    urbanhippie Posts: 3,007
    Not marrying them will not necessarily prevent them from having children anyway :roll:

    Puh-lease!
    A human being that was given to fly.

    Wembley 18/06/07

    If there was a reason, it was you.

    O2 Arena 18/09/09
  • he still stands
    he still stands Posts: 2,835
    urbanhippie wrote:
    Not marrying them will not necessarily prevent them from having children anyway :roll:

    Puh-lease!

    what?!?! people can't have sex unless they are married. God wants us to have a piece of paper promising an emotion for eternity before we can fornicate. :lol:
    Everything not forbidden is compulsory and eveything not compulsory is forbidden. You are free... free to do what the government says you can do.
  • keeponrockin
    keeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    he still stands wrote:
    urbanhippie wrote:
    Not marrying them will not necessarily prevent them from having children anyway :roll:

    Puh-lease!

    what?!?! people can't have sex unless they are married. God wants us to have a piece of paper promising an emotion for eternity before we can fornicate. :lol:
    Uh-oh... I missed that memo...

    Seriously, I'd call this guy an asshole, but that's an insult to the assholes.
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • stuckinline
    stuckinline Posts: 3,407
    inmytree wrote:
    "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."
    what the hell are piles and piles of black friends?
  • blackredyellow
    blackredyellow Posts: 5,889
    stuckinline wrote:
    inmytree wrote:
    "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."
    what the hell are piles and piles of black friends?

    I treat them just like everyone else, I just won't let them get married to white people...

    what an ass
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • aerial
    aerial Posts: 2,319
    g under p wrote:
    blackredyellow wrote:
    wow... just wow...

    I hope they get him fired and sue him for everything that he has.

    inmytree wrote:
    "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."

    Maybe because there are people like you out there, Bardwell...

    wow is right, where does mr baldwell gets to determine whether a couple's child suffer or not. Some still say race doesn't matter or isn't a factor in this country in this day and age.

    Peace


    What race is Mr. Bardwell ?

    Not saying Bardwell was right...he could be right about the kids

    I have seen a few documentaries were bi-racial teenagers were interviewed and told their stories of growing up bi-racial (white and black). They did talk about how they had not felt connected to either race do to the fact neither race seemed to want to accept them. Only if they were prominently white or prominently black would they be accepted in one or the other groups.
    “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln
  • fife
    fife Posts: 3,327
    maybe if they were relatives who just happen to be interracial ;)
  • blackredyellow
    blackredyellow Posts: 5,889
    aerial wrote:
    What race is Mr. Bardwell ?

    White, according to the first line of the article posted above.
    aerial wrote:
    Not saying Bardwell was right...he could be right about the kids

    I have seen a few documentaries were bi-racial teenagers were interviewed and told their stories of growing up bi-racial (white and black). They did talk about how they had not felt connected to either race do to the fact neither race seemed to want to accept them. Only if they were prominently white or prominently black would they be accepted in one or the other groups.

    Even if he has that belief, what fucking authority does a JP have to decide that a biracial couple can't be married because he feels that way?
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • inmytree
    inmytree Posts: 4,741
    aerial wrote:


    What race is Mr. Bardwell ?

    Not saying Bardwell was right...he could be right about the kids

    I have seen a few documentaries were bi-racial teenagers were interviewed and told their stories of growing up bi-racial (white and black). They did talk about how they had not felt connected to either race do to the fact neither race seemed to want to accept them. Only if they were prominently white or prominently black would they be accepted in one or the other groups.

    you're kidding right...?

    could you share the information on these "documentaries"...?
  • he still stands
    he still stands Posts: 2,835
    inmytree wrote:
    aerial wrote:


    What race is Mr. Bardwell ?

    Not saying Bardwell was right...he could be right about the kids

    I have seen a few documentaries were bi-racial teenagers were interviewed and told their stories of growing up bi-racial (white and black). They did talk about how they had not felt connected to either race do to the fact neither race seemed to want to accept them. Only if they were prominently white or prominently black would they be accepted in one or the other groups.

    you're kidding right...?

    could you share the information on these "documentaries"...?

    it seems odd to me that people who seem to have a "conservative" or "republican" outlook end up supporting things like eugenics. I attribute that to the whole Rush/Beck/Ann Coulter/Wilsonian Idealism movement... because that sure as hell isn't part of traditional conservatism.
    Everything not forbidden is compulsory and eveything not compulsory is forbidden. You are free... free to do what the government says you can do.
  • aerial
    aerial Posts: 2,319
    inmytree wrote:
    aerial wrote:


    What race is Mr. Bardwell ?

    Not saying Bardwell was right...he could be right about the kids

    I have seen a few documentaries were bi-racial teenagers were interviewed and told their stories of growing up bi-racial (white and black). They did talk about how they had not felt connected to either race do to the fact neither race seemed to want to accept them. Only if they were prominently white or prominently black would they be accepted in one or the other groups.

    you're kidding right...?

    could you share the information on these "documentaries"...?




    I have nothing against being biracial. I taught my kids to see no color.
    My son had a thing for Black and Asian girls when he was a teen. Now that I think about it...does that make him raciest that he did not want to date a white girl? Maybe the raciest word gets thrown around too easily. Throwing that word around lately seems to be doing more harm than good and does not help blur the lines of racism.

    Because I am white, my ancestors are accused of being slave owners...what’s up with that? Isn’t that prejudice?


    this is not the one I saw on tv....it's been along time

    http://www.eurthisnthat.com/2009/07/22/ ... k-damn-it/
    “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln
  • inmytree
    inmytree Posts: 4,741
    edited October 2009
    aerial wrote:
    inmytree wrote:
    aerial wrote:


    What race is Mr. Bardwell ?

    Not saying Bardwell was right...he could be right about the kids

    I have seen a few documentaries were bi-racial teenagers were interviewed and told their stories of growing up bi-racial (white and black). They did talk about how they had not felt connected to either race do to the fact neither race seemed to want to accept them. Only if they were prominently white or prominently black would they be accepted in one or the other groups.

    you're kidding right...?

    could you share the information on these "documentaries"...?




    I have nothing against being biracial. I taught my kids to see no color.
    My son had a thing for Black and Asian girls when he was a teen. Now that I think about it...does that make him raciest that he did not want to date a white girl? Maybe the raciest word gets thrown around too easily. Throwing that word around lately seems to be doing more harm than good and does not help blur the lines of racism.

    Because I am white, my ancestors are accused of being slave owners...what’s up with that? Isn’t that prejudice?


    this is not the one I saw on tv....it's been along time

    http://www.eurthisnthat.com/2009/07/22/ ... k-damn-it/

    if your son hooks up with a black/asian girl, would you worry about your grandchildren...?

    and what's with the random "Because I am white, my ancestors are accused of being slave owners...what’s up with that? Isn’t that prejudice?"

    where did that come from....?
    Post edited by inmytree on
  • blackredyellow
    blackredyellow Posts: 5,889
    inmytree wrote:
    aerial wrote:

    I have nothing against being biracial. I taught my kids to see no color.
    My son had a thing for Black and Asian girls when he was a teen. Now that I think about it...does that make him raciest that he did not want to date a white girl? Maybe the raciest word gets thrown around too easily. Throwing that word around lately seems to be doing more harm than good and does not help blur the lines of racism.

    Because I am white, my ancestors are accused of being slave owners...what’s up with that? Isn’t that prejudice?


    this is not the one I saw on tv....it's been along time

    http://www.eurthisnthat.com/2009/07/22/ ... k-damn-it/

    if you son hooks up with a black/asian girl, would you worry about your grandchildren...?

    and what's with the random "Because I am white, my ancestors are accused of being slave owners...what’s up with that? Isn’t that prejudice?"

    where did that come from....?

    That caught me off guard too? wtf? I'm white and my ancestors have never been accused of being slave owners.
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • aerial
    aerial Posts: 2,319
    if your son hooks up with a black/asian girl, would you worry about your grandchildren...?

    and what's with the random "Because I am white, my ancestors are accused of being slave owners...what’s up with that? Isn’t that prejudice?"



    I would not worry about there color...my worries would come from them trying to put a label on them selves.....which the only label should be human, intelligent, ethical, mannerly, charitable...with these traits how can the color of your skin matter?.
    and what's with the random "Because I am white, my ancestors are accused of being slave owners...what’s up with that? Isn’t that prejudice?"




    where did that come from....?[/quote]

    A point to show how anyone can claim racism on a whim. Or is it for attention, is it an easy out?.....I just don’t get it......
    “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln

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