One less bigot in power = goodness

Keith Bardwell

A few weeks ago, I commented on the story where Keith Bardwell, a Louisiana justice of the peace, refused to marry a couple because they were interracial, despite his repeated assurances that he was not a racist. He claimed that it was his experience that “most interracial marriages do not last long”, and then brought up the old “for teh kidz” excuse, claiming that the couple’s potential eventual children wouldn’t want to live with being biracial. But, hey, he’s not racist – after all, he lets them use his toilet. (His own words.) Proof, no?

He strikes me as the kind of guy who isn’t actually malicious in his bigotry; just ignorant and stupid, like the kind of person who honestly thinks people of other races (or gender, or sexual orientations, or …) are mentally or morally inferior to others (ie. Whites), without actually harboring hatred towards them. However, regardless of whether they are actually fueled by hatred or not, bigots do not deserve to be in the limelight, and especially should not be in any position of power. Thankfully, in this case, the ending is a good one: Bardwell has officially resigned following the national outcry raised by his idiotic refusal to marry the couple.

Let he be an example to bigots everywhere. It’s about time they learned their world of denigration and discrimination isn’t just going away; it’s gone, forever, and the last few dregs of idiocy are continually being washed away by the common current of tolerance and acceptance.

Technorati tags: Keith Bardwell · Louisiana · racism · marriage