Oh boy. A Louisiana justice of the peace is in a heap of trouble. Read this Hammond Star article and then try to pull your jaw off the floor.
A justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple last week because of concern for the children who might be born of that relationship. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace for Tangipahoa Parish’s 8th Ward, also said it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.
“I’m not a racist,” Bardwell said. “I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house. My main concern is for the children.”
Beth Humphrey, 30, said she and her boyfriend, Terence McKay, 32, both of Hammond, intend to consult the U.S. Justice Department about filing a discrimination complaint. Humphrey said she called Bardwell Oct. 6 to inquire about getting a marriage license signed. She said Bardwell’s wife told her that Bardwell will not sign marriage licenses for interracial couples. “I simply can’t believe he can do that. That’s blatant discrimination,” Humphrey said.
The Louisiana American Civil Liberties Union and the Tangipahoa Parish Chapter of the NAACP agree. Louisiana ACLU Executive Director Marjorie R. Esman said Bardwell’s refusal to sign the license is both “tragic and illegal.”
Pat Morris, NAACP Tangipahoa Parish chapter president, said she was shocked to hear that the choice of a spouse is still an issue in Tangipahoa Parish.
Humphrey, a Covington native, said she was discharged from the military over a year ago. McKay is originally from Franklinton. They met where she works, she said. The couple had planned to go to South Carolina for the wedding, where they would be married in a traditional ceremony by her brother, who is a youth minister, Humphrey said. But McKay lost his job, and by the time he was re-employed he was unable to get off for the wedding.
They decided to go ahead and get married here “to make it right before God,” she said.
“We decided on a very short, simple ceremony with a couple of my friends as witnesses,” she said. “Later, when he got some time off, we would go to South Carolina for the traditional ceremony, although we would actually already be officially married.” Toward the conclusion of her conversation with Bardwell’s wife, Humphrey said she was asked if this was an interracial marriage. Humphrey told her it was.
“I have no idea why she asked me that,” Humphrey said. “I suppose she asks everyone that question.” Humphrey said the wife told her that Bardwell does not do interracial marriages.
To read the entire article go to http://www.hammondstar.com/articles/2009/10/16/top_stories/8847.txt.