Interracial couple denied marriage licence...in 2009

Now, being the ~*Ethnix*~ of our humble forum, you know that I get pissed off about racial issues that crop up around America and the rest of the world, cause you know? They tend to suck quite a bit.

But after reading this story, I could not stop laughing. Perhaps because the idea is so patently ridiculous. Or, perhaps, it's because the world has finally broken the last thread binding me to sanity.

Quote :

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday.

LOL OH HONEY. I'm pretty sure that STILL makes you racist.

It was this part that really got to me, though:

Quote :

"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."

Good on you, Mr. Bardwell! You let your Negroid guests use actual toilets instead of sending them out back like everyone else! Try not to strain a muscle while patting yourself on the back so hard.

In any case, the couple is filing a discrimination suit, and the ACLU is getting involved. As they both are wont to do.
As for Bardwell, he still sees no fault in his actions:

Quote :

"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."

Well, actually. By refusing to marry them, you told them they couldn't get married.

Quote :

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

No, that's not racist at all.

Quote :

"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."

Eeeehhhhh.... *rubs head* This is falling into the category of ultra lame. I can at least see doctors refusing to perform abortions because of religious issues. I don't agree with it, but I can at least picture it. But this? This is just... making my head hurt.

Quote :

A Louisiana justice

I just got the entire gist of the article from the first three words. A Louisiana(n, ite?) in a position of power? If they're not making the news for corruptions or ineptitude it's racism.

In b4 people from Louisiana go apeshit

Quote :

"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."

"Think of the children" is the rallying cry of the ignorant.

Quote :

"I try to treat everyone equally," he said.

what

Mafiosa wrote:

Quote :

"I try to treat everyone equally," he said.

what

Lol right? I love him baawwing about how if he treated one interracal couple, he'd have to marry all of them and it's not faaaaair.

Quote :

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.

Has this dope even noticed who is President right now? I mean, has he?

Quote :

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday.

Reading for your brainz.

Out of curiosity, I Googled up statistic about divorce based on race. According to this site, in America, there's only one group with a higher divorce rate than blacks do.

Care to guess which?

I read this article at work while on a break. My immediate response was WTF!? (Literally). A student was listening and told me I wasn't supposed to say that word because he might learn it. Then he looked at the article, and his response was WTF!? (Literally). This kid is of mixed race, black and Hispanic. He said his parents have been married for twenty years and hardly anybody picks on him about his race...and he has a white girlfriend.

What decade is this justice of the peace living in? I know it's the Deep South, but...come on! The law allowing consenting adults to marry anyone of the opposite sex they choose went into effect in 1963.

....Wow, it's like stepping back in time to the 50's. Next thing you know they'll be squawking about the dangers of polio vaccines and that evil rock and roll.

rachel wrote:

Quote :

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.

Has this dope even noticed who is President right now? I mean, has he?

Well President Obama's grandparents on his mother's side apparently had no trouble accepting him, given that they raised him for a good portion of his life. On the other hand, Hawaii's always been very laid back about racial differences, possibly because a large portion of the population are mixed race.

But yeah, this sounds an awful lot like the stories my mom used to tell me about when my dad was in basic training in Little Rock, and she moved there to be near him. The Jim Crow laws were still firmly in place then, and she said she never could understand why blacks had to enter stores and the likes via a separate door from the one the white people used, since the people who worked there seemed to be perfectly willing to take your money, no matter what color you were.

I wonder what this justice of the peace would do if he was approached for a marriage license by someone of mixed race.

Lady Anne wrote:

I wonder what this justice of the peace would do if he was approached for a marriage license by someone of mixed race.

Have a spasm, most likely.

Is he even aware that he lives in a country that elected Barack Obama, idolizes Tiger Woods, and lusts after Mariah Carey?

Is this 1909 or 2009? D:

I love the way he tries to pull the classic "some of my best friends are black" manoeuvre. What a great friend, too, letting his mates use his bathroom. I hear you can catch black off a toilet seat.

Wait, this isn't a joke?

I thought someone had slipped a parody article past the news editors when I first read this...

I can't believe he used the 'I'm not racist' prefix and the 'some of my best friends are black!' justifications in the same argument. That's like double fail.

Is it bad that I derive kind of a twisted kind of amusement (or at least fascination) from the fact that most people in this society would be appalled (and rightly so!) at this, yet you could twist the vast majority of his arguments around to apply to gays/transgenders/etc. and very few of them would bat an eyelid?

Obviously, that doesn't apply here. But ugh, people are stupid.

Fitchsticks wrote:

I can't believe he used the 'I'm not racist' prefix and the 'some of my best friends are black!' justifications in the same argument. That's like double fail.

I can't believe he used the "Everybody makes mistakes" bullshit as justification.

First - are you calling this a mistake? If so, why aren't you apologising?

Second - The fact that you make mistakes does not excuse you from the making of mistakes. It doesn't mean you can make mistakes and get away with it. It just makes you human, like everybody else.

"Think of the children", he says. WHAT children? Do they even HAVE children? WILL they have children? And what makes them incapable of having children WITHOUT getting married? If he was such a great and holy man, wouldn't you think he'd WANT to marry them, you know before they had children outside of marriage? Not that I have a problem with that, but you know how it goes. I've never heard a more ignorant way to use "Think of the children" in my life.

Why do people never say "Think of the children" when it comes to issues about funding education, health-care for the young, and social services?

Wandering Critic wrote:

Lady Anne wrote:

I wonder what this justice of the peace would do if he was approached for a marriage license by someone of mixed race.

Have a spasm, most likely.

Is he even aware that he lives in a country that elected Barack Obama, idolizes Tiger Woods, and lusts after Mariah Carey?

I can't stand any of those three people. :hmm:

But our reigning Super Bowl MVP and NFL Defensive Player of the Year are black.

Also, why are all the avatars gone, EXCEPT MINE?! :unskilled78:

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

Also, why are all the avatars gone, EXCEPT MINE?! :unskilled78:

??

I DON'T WANT TO ONLY SEE THAT GODDAMN SPARKLY SHOE-KITTEN

Quote :

Also, why are all the avatars gone, EXCEPT MINE?!

I think we're having some image issues while severs are being moved.

Glad it's not just me, though. I was fiddling with adblock to figure what what on earth I did wrong.

For some reason I can see Sheba's av though.

Mafiosa, Mikey, and Sheba are showing up for me. For some reason the files must have survived the move.

Bamshalam wrote:

It was this part that really got to me, though:

Quote :

"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."

At first I read the "I marry them" part as him saying he'd married all of his black friends. LOL, unintentional interracial bisexual polygamy FTW.

rachel wrote:

Quote :

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.

Has this dope even noticed who is President right now? I mean, has he?

God, really. THIS.

AI find it funny that he thinks not being married would stop them from having children in 2009. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Ah, old fashion morality, ain't it cute?

Snark aside, it's a good thing old fuckers like these are a dying breed, even in a state known to be...a little behind the social curve.

He'd hate my family. I have cousins who are a mixture of white with: black, Hispanic, Japanese, or Native American. I also have a nephew who is 5/8 white, 1/8 Hawaiian, 1/8 Samoan, and 1/8 Chinese. Oh, and the half-black half-white cousin and the multi-ethnic nephew were both born out of wedlock. If this justice of the peace saw one of our family gatherings, he'd keel over from a heart attack and we'd be rid of him.

Hmm...perhaps I should try to arrange a family reunion in Louisiana. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Same here Anne. He'd love both sides of my family, especially my mom's side. My great granddad (my grandma's daddy) on my mom's side was half white, my great grandma (my granddaddy's mama) is half Native-American, my cousin is half black/half Mexican and 2 of my cousins and my uncle are full Mexican. I also have 2 cousins with green eyes and red hair lol. My Dad's side of the family is all fucked up too.

But this doesn't surprise me all that much, not because I'm from the South but because my former preacher (before I gained sense and became agnostic) refused to marry my aunt and uncle because they are an interracial couple. He didn't have the balls to say it though, he just didn't show up for their wedding and they had to rush and find a preacher that would marry them.

Way to go jackass.