A JUSTICE of the peace (JP) in Louisiana is facing disciplinary action after he refused to marry a mixed-race couple on the grounds that it would not be fair to any children they might have.
Keith Bardwell, a JP for 34 years in Tangipahoa parish, southwestern Louisiana, turned away Beth Humphrey (30) who is white, and Terence McKay (32) who is black.
They were the fourth interracial couple to whom he had declined to issue a marriage licence.
Mr Bardwell, who is white, insists he is not a racist and that his decision last week was governed by his concern that mixed-race children were shunned by white and black communities. He told the Hammond Star: "I don't do interracial marriages because I don't want to put children in a situation they didn't bring on themselves. I feel the children will later suffer."
He told the Associated Press: “I’m not a racist. I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way. I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them like everyone else.”
Louisiana is one of 17 southern states that repealed laws banning mixed-race relationships when forced to do so by the US supreme court in the 1967 case of Loving v Virginia. Until then "miscegenation", as it was legally called, was outlawed in many states.
Ms Humphrey, who left the US military last year, said she was appalled by the JP’s actions. “That’s blatant discrimination.” The local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union has written to state judicial authorities asking for Mr Bardwell to receive the “most severe sanctions available”.
Ms Humphrey and Mr McKay say they will consult the US justice department about filing a discrimination complaint.
– (Guardian service)