Email This Story

Editorial: Justice should lose license for unjustly refusing to allow interracial marriage

Oct. 27, 2009

Claire Taylor | Lariat Staff

Keith Bardwell, a Louisiana justice of the peace, has refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple, as reported by CNN on Oct. 17, directly violating Supreme Court rulings and denying the couple their constitutional right to marriage.

Bardwell reportedly told Hammond's Daily Star that he had refused their license because he was concerned for the children who might be born with the confines of this particular relationship and that, in his experience, most interracial marriages do not succeed.

Bardwell should lose his license. It is not right for an administrator of the laws to believe he may act outside of them. It is not enough that he simply receives some negative press. If one is not capable of following the rules at his or her job, he or she should not be allowed to keep it. His actions are a glaring indication that racism still exists in this nation. Similarly, his refusal to follow the laws comes as a warning of the dishonest and erratic implications that often follow such a blinding form of hatred.

"He's an elected public official and one of his duties is to marry people. He doesn't have the right to say he doesn't believe in it," said Patricia Morris, president of the NAACP branch of Tangipahoa Parish. "If he doesn't do what his position calls for him to do, he should resign from that position."

Others have spoken out against the actions of this Louisiana justice.

''Disciplinary action should be taken immediately ­-- including the revoking of his license,'' Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal told the Associated Press.

The most disturbing issue is that Bardwell seems unapologetic. It appears he does not recognize he has done something incredibly offensive to many people.

"I'm not a racist," Bardwell told Hammond's Daily Star. "I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house. My main concern is for the children." However, Bardwell referred the couple to another justice of the peace.

Many do not seem to buy into this excuse, though.

''Perhaps he's worried the kids will grow up and be president,'' said Bill Quigley, director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Justice quipped to the Associated Press, in an Oct.16 article.

Bardwell's excuses fall on deaf ears. What he did was wrong and, instead of making these excuses, he should be apologizing for his unacceptable action.

Quigley is, of course, making a reference to the current commander-in-chief of this nation, the result of a black father and white mother.

The problem is that Bardwell's job is to administer and obey the laws, not to create his own. Whether or not he agrees with them, Bardwell must follow the laws already agreed on by the people of this nation. It is an unsettling thing that one believes he can whimsically alter them as he sees fit.

Though the United States has made great strides against racism, there is clearly still work to be done. Alive are certain historical issues that must be fought against, and racism is one of them. Some may not even realize it is still a problem. Here is their reminder.

Morris said the case is now being given to the state and national levels of the NAACP.

In 1967, the United States Supreme Court, through the Loving v. Virginia case, held that any racially-based limitations on marriage were unconstitutional.

Bardwell directly violated this ruling and should, therefore, lose his license.

Let us look at this as a call to action. Granted the country has come a significant distance since the Civil War, but it has notable ground to cover to become the country built on equality and freedom it claims to be.

More News ...