The Exponent - Purdue's Student Newspaper

Recently, Keith Bardwell, a Louisiana justice of the peace, refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple. He said he made his decision “for the kids.” This instance of racism reminded us that bigotry is still alive and well in the U.S.; it also showed deep irony in the fact that a “justice” of the peace practices such injustice.

But, the last time we checked, it is not the 1960s. In 1967, the Supreme Court decided in the Loving v. Virginia case that it is an individual’s right to marry someone of another race, and the government has no business to dictate otherwise. There is no room for this kind of prejudice in the law.

The couple in the Louisiana case has been fighting to have Bardwell removed from his position. But, come on, why did that not automatically and immediately happen? Once it became a matter of national importance, it seems as though the first step in saving face would be to fire this man. Regardless of his old-fashioned beliefs, it is his job to uphold the law as it is written, not as he personally sees fit.

One hundred years ago, it mattered whether a person was mixed-race. Black people were treated unfairly and even those that were partially black felt those prejudices. We now have a mixed-race president and he seems to be doing just fine in life. Why, in 2009, would an agent of the U.S. government think mixed-race offspring is such a terrible thing?

Maybe it is because the U.S. does not have the equality people like to believe it does. The Ku Klux Klan is still active, some newspapers refused to print election results when a black man won, and some still think interracial marriages are as bad as abortion.

We could not believe our ears when we heard this couple’s story. The best way to send the message that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated would have been to remove Bardwell from his position immediately. On behalf of acceptance everywhere, we hope his replacement will not be so ignorant.