Racism is a word that has been tossed around a lot lately. Most of the time it is misused causing it to have a watered-down meaning. It becomes trivialized to a point were we cannot see true racism.
In Louisiana, Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell refused to perform a marriage for an interracial couple. On CBS news he argues that since children of interracial couples are often denied by their families, he will not perform a marriage because he is concerned about the kids.
On that CBS news program he said one other scenario in which he would not perform a ceremony is if the couple is intoxicated or on drugs. He then said they have to come back when they are sober.
Let me get this straight, Bardwell. Parents who abuse alcohol and drugs will be married by you, but not interracial couples. The data shows children living in that situation are much better off than interracial couples. Right?
He also said interracial marriages do not last.
So does he also refuse to perform marriages for younger couples? Data shows they have a much higher divorce rate than those of their elders. There is data out there that shows the divorce-rate amongst those who are conservative Christians is higher than that of those that claim to be agnostic or atheist. Does Bardwell not perform marriages for them?
I can go on and on and break down random statistics from random studies and show people with lower IQ’s have a higher divorce rate (or vice versa). Will Bardwell refuse to perform for people because they are too stupid or too smart?
Oh, you want me to marry you? Well take this IQ test first and we will see.
Bardwell argues he is not a racist. He claims he allows black people to use his bathroom, as reported by the Associated Press. While I applaud Bardwell in his courageous act of racial unity to allow black people to use his toilet, he is still racist. Taking an action based solely on the basis of color is racist.
This is not just an isolated incidence of racism. Racism is all around us. Poverty in this country still disproportionately affects minority groups, as does education levels. The reason is because of the segregationist policies of the past put generations of minorities behind whites by about 200 years.
The situation today for minorities is a lot better today than it was prior to the civil rights movement. But predominantly minority schools are still poorer than their white counter-parts.
Back in the days of segregation, this country saw black-only schools had hardly any funding and thus could not educate their children as the white only schools could. So when segregation became illegal it broke down many barriers for children to receive a better quality education. However many of children were so far behind, it became difficult to catch up.
The next generation of minorities also could not catch up because they still lived in the same impoverished areas and so was the case for every other generation. So today we still see the effects of institutional racism. It is not a coincidence the minorities in this country are poorer still.
Bardwell shows the old-school world of thinking still exists and we need laws to protect against that. That means minority scholarships and affirmative action. This is supposed to be a country of equal opportunity but it is not due to the racist policies of our ancestors.
I call on the Supreme Court of Louisiana to the right thing and relieve Keith Bardwell of his duties as an elected official for being unethical and a racist.
h t t p : //tr.im/CMat (Info on University of Miss desegregation in the 1960's: Gee, isn't enlightenment lovely?)