Friday, October 16, 2009

Did I miss something?

You need to read this article about an American justice of the peace who won't perform interracial marriages, citing "evidence" the marriage won't last. Um, hello, but don't almost half of American marriages end in divorce? That's not a very good "success" rate, and yet that doesn't stop any other justice of the peace performing any other marriage. (That's the figure I always hear quoted, but I can't verify it anywhere. In Canada, it's a little lower, but not much - it's around 33-40%.)

America is supposed to be the land of the free, a place where interracial marriages are allowed. The justice of the peace says he's not racist, just being logical given his supposed evidence interracial marriages don't last. He says proof that he's not racist is that he lets his black friends use his bathroom. (How generous of him.)

I hope this justice of the peace is reprimanded for his intolerant actions.

4 comments:

  1. i was so shocked when i read that article. hopefully some change is made. he does not deserve to be justice of the peace.

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  2. It is shocking! I mean, of course everyone has the "right" to think what he/she wants. (I put it right quotation marks because no one can monitor what you think). But as a civil servant, you may have to put your personal opinions (especially when they're discriminatory) aside in order to do your duty.

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  3. LOL!! Yeah, this guy is a dumb-______. He's racist. At least when it comes to marriage. It's so outrageous!
    But, since he's not preventing them from getting married - he's just said that he wouldn't perform the ceremony - there's not a whole lot that they can do, outside of the couple bringing a complaint against him. I'm not sure of the law in this case, but since he doesn't issue the license (that's through your county, or parrish in Lousiana), he's only acting as an officiant here, and I guess he can refuse to officiate.

    But the story was just kind of funny - I mean, he's not a racist because he lets black people use his bathroom, just like anyone else?? It would be interesting to see if he's ever officiated over a marriage between a white person and a Hispanic.

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  4. It would be interesting to know. I mean, racism issues are funny. We're not different races - by the biological definition of race, we're all the same: black, white, mediterranean, hispanic, asian, etc, etc, etc. All the same. So get over this idea of "race".

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