Interracial couple denied marriage license in Lousianna

[moon]

Originally Posted by Barnes

"I have lots of black friends"

and no you don't.

Really?

You think you can judge that on the basis of five seconds of biased knowledge of the guy?

As someone who has lived in the South I wouldn't be surprised at all if he had black friends who thought of this as something that was the way things worked in his town and didn't see him as a racist at all.

[fatso]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

He's not even a state judge. He's a "justice of the peace."

All that means is that he applied for a license to perform marriages. The Canadian equivalent is "marriage commissioner."

I'm not saying he isn't a racist, just that maybe we should be cautious about assuming that a single ######bag J.O.P. means that racism is institutionalized in Louisiana.

I definitely agree that you can't take the actions of one individual as demonstrative of systemic bias, but I bet J.P.'s in Louisiana have more authority than just marriage commissioners. Certainly in Canada, J.P.'s handle bail issues, and I believe can approve indictments and warrants. So while he's not a judge per se, he is a member of the judiciary and per the article falls under their umbrella (which makes this worse imo in that he's not just Joe Civil Servant).

Originally Posted by Azure

I think it just shows that racism goes both ways down there. Unless you think it wasn't a racist remark.

Sure I guess, but I don't think this is just about discrimination against blacks. It's telling, to me, that it's being construed that way. Maybe it's the way the article is written, with black people as the 'victims' here, but this guy seems to be an equal opportunity bigot and white people ought to be equally annoyed by this decision as blacks.

He's white, but seems like he doesn't have a lot of respect for many white people who I think are equally discriminated against. As stated in the article:

"Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said."

I bet this guy actually does have a lot of black and white friends. And I bet he thoroughly believes black people are not inferior or lesser citizens. His problem is that blacks and whites shouldn't mix... which is, of course, racist however he spins it.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by flip

It really doesn't work that way. You have to be able to prove that by performing the action your religious values will be violated.

What do you mean it doesn't work that way? Those are real religious customs. You don't think people have a right to claim that those things violate their religious values, and therefore they don't have to do their job?

How do you prove something violates your religious values?

More importantly, how do you prove something doesn't violate religious values?

My religious values dictate that I don't work Friday afternoons in the summertime. Forcing me to work on Friday afternoon in the summertime is a direct attack on my religious values, but my employer insists I work on Friday afternoons, so I'm going to the Human Rights Commission.

Sound fair?

Can you prove that my religious values are not compromised when my employer insists I work on Friday afternoon in the summertime?

You can make up any old thing and say it's part of your religion. I can say I read that bit about Friday afternoon in my invisible holy book. Or maybe God came down from heaven and told me. It ain't any weirder (or different, as far as I'm concerned) than many practices of "legitimate" religions.