Totally not racist judge refuses to marry interracial couple
15th October 2009
by gordo
Sometimes, it really is this easy to spot
From the Associated Press:
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.
“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.
“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.
It’s amazing to me how people like Bardwell can be so ignorant of how they appear to decent people. Then again, if he wasn’t such an idiot, he probably wouldn’t be a racist.
October 16th, 2009 at 7:11 am
Because only married women can bear children.
October 16th, 2009 at 8:36 am
Of course, it is completely lost on Bardwell that the more interracial couples there are, the more multiracial children there will be, which will lead to greater acceptance of mixed race children.
October 16th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Tommy–
Actually, I don’t think that point is lost on Bardwell.
October 16th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Oh well, so much for giving the guy the benefit of the doubt.
October 16th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Well, we’re talking about a guy who justifies himself by saying that neither the white nor the black community will accept a person of mixed race, despite the fact that the President of the United States is of mixed race. I think that exposes Bardwell’s “good intentions” for what they really are: an excuse to act on his racist impulses.
October 18th, 2009 at 5:33 am
when will people get over this, I mean , that judge needs to realize he should be fired. And he should never look at skin color when it comes to love, he is not the real judhe God is, and how will he explain this on the great judgement day. When he stands before the real judge.also I would like to know , if he showed prejiduce in this case, doesn’t some one need to take a look at old case files to see if some people were wrongfully convicted.I think I would.
October 18th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Patricia–
Fortunately, he’s just a Justice of the Peace, so there’s a limit to how much damage he can do.
October 18th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Patricia, you have a valid concern, but he is just a Justice of the Peace. At most he handles minor cases such as traffic tickets and the very lowest class of misdemeanors (ticket offenses), so the harm done will be faily minor per defendant, even if his bias is evident in his ruling. If there is a bright side, it’s that least we aren’t looking at someone handling prison term or death penalty cases. And to be fair, the vast majority of even these criminal cases will plead out or otherwise resolve themselves prior to trial - his influence over the outcome probably fairly minimal overall.
October 18th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Note to self: type faster.
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:28 am
Note to Runaway:
Or just be more succinct.
October 25th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
No can do. I’m a lawyer, after all.