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[LA]
Louisiana Judge Steps Down Amid Interracial Marriage Controversy
Associated Press
/November 3, 2009
A Louisiana justice of the peace who refused to marry a couple because the bride was white and groom was black resigned.
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on November 5th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Mr Bardwell’s statement was wrong: it is not the biracial marriage that harms the children that come from that marriage; it is the responses of biased people to biracial marriages and biracial children that can cause harm.
And even if his desire to protect biracial children from harm is noble, it is misplaced. Biracial children may indeed have issues to deal with that are particular to their situation, but all children have to deal with adversity. In fact, no parent can keep their child from having to face adversity; they simply do not have that power. It is within a parent’s power, however, to give their children the tools and resources to deal successfully with adversity.
If Mr. Bardwell wishes to help these children have a life with as little adversity as possible, perhaps he could direct his energies into supporting those parents, and role-modeling and speaking out about acceptance of biracial relationships to the people around him who are biased. Refusing to marry 2 people – who are in love and wish to make that kind of commitment – is not a way to protect children from harm.
on November 5th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
“It is not the biracial marriage that harms the children that come from that marriage”
It is Mr Bardwell’s statement which is harmful for our children. It represents racism and hate directly from heart.
on November 5th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
I am SO glad to see this outcome as this racist should never have been allowed to serve in any public capacity. Folks like him should not be allowed to get away with their bigoted racist actions. I also “seriously” hope that both the state of Louisiana and the Department of Justice both go after this guy to the max. He violated clearly direct Louisiana civil law and also federal law and only prosecution of these blatantly racist folks will slow this sort of ingrained behavior. We may not be able to control what these folks “think”, but we darned sure can control what they are allowed to get away with in the public realm. Myself and my friends have all written appropriate authorities expressing our desire to see this guy punished as well. Resigning is far too easy and does nothing to correct violations of civil rights this guy surely has done over his long tenure in office. Shame on the govt. that parish for not immediately removing this guy from office at the first such instance years back. And shame on the people of that parish for allowing their govt. to allow this as well. It is clear that this guy has a long standing history of “official discrimination”. This case is not one of an ordinary citizen holding racist views. It is a public official with the power to rule over the destiny of other citizens. The sad fact is that you can go to any military base in the U.S., or on foreign soil and find “interracial” families with members serving our country protecting the rights of this racist to then deny them their own civil rights. Nothing could be more anti-American to me. All Americans should speak loud and clearly on issues such as this and make it clear that we are not going to let these folks discriminate in the 21rst century. This justice of the peace was entitled to his own “opinion”, but his “job” mean that he was not allowed to act on it in any way shape or form.
on November 6th, 2009 at 4:23 am
It’s not the first time a sociopath has tried to use children as a justification for their crooked view of the world. Bardwell is hiding behind children to excuse the inexcusable, to defend the indefensible.
on November 7th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
It seems to me that we are all supposed to be members of the HUMAN race.
The article states the the couple has a civil suit against him. I hope they win handsomely.
on November 9th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
I agree with the above comments – I hope they win big with the lawsuit – perhaps if he gets hurt badly enough in his bank account it will get his attention. Also agree that people’s thinking and bigotry cannot be legislated away but legislation can be enforced for actions resulting from said bigotry harms others.
on November 9th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Martha, “bigotry cannot be legislated away” – but has anything ever been legislated away? Does making burglary a crime mean that there are no more burglaries? When pot was made illegal did the potheads just stop toking?
I don’t mean to sound put-downy, but I just want to point out that no law ever stops any dyed in the wool criminal, laws are only there for keeping honest men honest – when an average guy or gal thinks twice about the possibility of going to jail and having that reputation of “criminal” stamped on them for the rest of their lives, then they’re more likely to not break the law.
on November 25th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
I wonder if anyone knows that in Israel the state does not legally recognize marriages between gentiles and jews? I am Jewish my wife is catholic and we have been happily married for over 30 years. I don’t agree with this La. justice of the peace, but shouldn’t we hold everyone to the same standard?
on November 30th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Congratulations on your nice long marriage, Harold. We should all be so fortunate.
I think most of us here are in agreement that we must hold everyone to at least the same standard, with those that enforce the laws setting higher standards. In a perfect world, that’s what we’d have. In the real world, we have this judge, who has now stepped down. At least he won’t be able to actively discriminate from the bench anymore ~ he’ll have to save that for his armchair, and for that I’m thankful.
on January 4th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
As an anglo married to an asian woman, with a eurasian child, I still do not find his views offensive.
I consider his views incorrect, but they are his personal views about the best interests of the resulting children.
I think this is more a reflection of the media than of Americans.