When The Loving Decision Just Isn’t Enough

If you’re not familiar with the Loving’s, Richard was a white man, and Mildred was a black woman, who left Virginia and moved to DC to marry each other in June 1958. When they returned to Virginia, they were charged with violating The Racial Integrity Act, which banned white people from marrying non-white people. It wasn’t until June 12, 1967, that Richard and Mildred Loving set precedent in their case, Loving vs Virginia, which declared Virginia’s anti-miscegenation statute, The Racial Integrity Act of 1924 unconstitutional and ended all race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States.

You’d think in 2009, people were free to marry whomever they want, even though as recent as 2000, Alabama became the last state to repeal its law against mixed-race marriage. Apparently no one informed, Keith Bardwell, a Justice of Peace in Tangipahoa parish in New Orleans, that these laws existed. According to Bardwell, he’s not racist, he just doesn’t believe that races should mix. Of course he went on to say that he has “piles” of black friends.

I truly don’t think that having ‘piles’ of black friends truly concern Beth Humphrey, 30, and Terence McKay, 32, all they want to do is get married, but Bardwell says he’s not the man who’s going to do it. Beth, who’s white & Terence, who’s black, plan on seeking legal advice in the situation. But Bardwell’s stance is basically, that he didn’t say they couldn’t marry, he just wasn’t the man to do the job, ironically he’s held the same stance with four other couples.

My first obvious question, who are the four couples who didn’t think to complain about this? Did they feel that it was ok for him to not marry them? I truly couldn’t believe that I was reading something about this in 2009 as I was sitting in my car earlier this morning. Personally, I could careless who people choose to marry. You’d think that people would be beyond that is this ‘post-racial society’.  I guess the saying, the more things change, the more they stay the same, rings true once again.

Richard & Mildred Loving, I hope the both of you are resting  in peace & haven’t rolled over in your graves.

Post-racial society, my ass.

Maybe more people should get ‘piles’ of friends of each race, but still keep the same prejudices/stereotypes that people have fought so hard to get rid of, since that’s what Bardwell is actually condoning.

Tags: beth humphrey, fungke blak chik, fungkeblakchik, keith bardwell, mildred loving, post racial society, racism, richard loving, Tangipahoa parish, terence mckay