If we're lucky, he'll just go away now

The Associated Press reports today that Keith Bardwell, the Louisiana justice of the peace who was in the news recently for refusing to marry an interracial couple, resigned today.

This is obviously a positive outcome. But I worry that Bardwell learned nothing from this experience.

At least we have additional anecdotal evidence that racism is alive and well in the United States—you know, for people who think that there's no need for affirmative action anymore. People need to be reminded occasionally.

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way." ---Keith Bardwell

I am not making this up. According to the Associated Press, "A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have." You can read about it here.

The justice of the peace in question, Keith Bardwell, might have a point. We should indeed think about the children. If you visit the website of the Tangipahoa Parish Clerk of Court Marriage Department, you'll discover, as I did, that the requirements for a marriage license are far too lax. There is no requirement that persons who are granted a marriage license get married and stay married until they have bitten the dust. This is shocking. Given the high divorce rate in the United States, and the common-sense view that divorce has a negative effect on children, marriage licenses must be denied to everyone—until, of course, divorce is made absolutely illegal. Join me in contacting the Tangipahoa Parish Clerk of Court to support them in their refusal to issue marriage licenses to anyone who asks for them.

Do if for the children, won't you?