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How a judge's racism seems out of place in this day and age
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A 1967 Supreme Court ruling that allows biracial marriages hasn't sunk in yet for at least one justice of the peace in Louisiana.
When Beth Humphrey, a white woman, and Terence McKay, a black man, went to get a marriage license, Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell refused to give them one.
His reasoning? He's convinced that neither white nor black society readily accept children of such biracial marriages, according to Associated Press reports. So instead of promoting acceptance, he seems content to take a stand against interracial marriages.
Bardwell needs to wake up to the 21st century. It's not up to him to decide who can get married or not. Back in 1967, the Supreme Court ruled that the government cannot tell people who they can and cannot marry.
It's time to wake up and smell the coffee--with cream.
A look at population trends suggests that children are becoming more mixed, slowly but surely. The percent of children ages 18 and younger who are of two or more races has been on the rise. Between 2005 and 2008, it rose from 3.8 percent to 4.6 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. And demographers looking into their crystal balls would tell you that the share of mixed race children is likely to rise further with time.
All told, there are more than 3.3 million children in that age group who are of two or more races. More than 2 million of them are in married couple families.
I've never been to Louisiana, but imagine there's a difference between attitudes in the cities vs. smaller towns. And Bardwell's reaction to the mixed race couple suggests to me that he is closer in spirit to South Carolina and Alabama of an earlier era. It wasn't until 1998 and 2000 respectively that these two states removed laws banning marriage between whites and people of color from their state constitutions. Some of us just haven't caught up with the rest of the country.
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