Why Did It Take So Long?

Recently, a justice of the peace in Louisiana refused to marry an interracial couple because, according to him, any children of the marriage would not be accepted by either race. This man has been a justice of the peace for 34 years and has, apparently, always refused to marry interracial couples. So why is this only now coming to light?

I am not one of those who believe that simply because the law says discrimination is illegal that discrimination has suddenly disappeared. I'm fully aware that, as someone who is white, I have an unfair advantage over those of other races in the US. I see racial profiling and racial stereotyping and racial discrimination on a daily basis. But it's been 40 years since Loving v Virginia overthrew miscegenation laws in this country! This man didn't even start working as a justice of the peace until AFTER interracial marriages became legal in the US. And yet, when this man-- someone whose duty is to provide services to ALL residents of the state in which he serves--  began his career as an elected official by discriminating against interracial couples and NO ONE REPORTED HIM UNTIL NOW! That's the part that really gets me. Why did it take 34 years before someone said something?

Mind you, I'm not at all suggesting that the man is not entitled to his personal beliefs, no matter how much they disgust me. But he does NOT have the right to impose those personal beliefs on others, particularly with respect to the duties he was elected to perform. If this man had been a minister, then I would fully support his right to refuse to marry anyone he chooses, no matter how much his reasoning disgusted me. But he's NOT a minister. He's an elected official who is sworn to uphold the law, not break it because it doesn't agree with his personal beliefs!

There are going to be those who say that forcing him to marry an interracial couple violates the man's first amendment right to freedom of religion. It most certainly does not. This man ran for office. He knew what the job entailed. Yet he chose to run anyway. And in doing so, he chose to accept that he'd have to marry some couples he might not want to marry.

I said the same thing years ago when Al Gore chose Joe Lieberman for his running mate and Joe said he would not work on the Sabbath, which for those who may not know is from sundown on Friday night until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night. I'm sorry, but if Joe was choosing to run for an office knowing that it might require working on the Sabbath, then he better work on the Sabbath! If you can't fulfill the job requirements, then don't run for election!

I said the same thing when Christian clerks in Massachusetts and Vermont protested having to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. As a state employee, your job is to serve the people of the state, not to force them to abide by your religious dictates. A clerk who issues a marriage license to a gay couple is in no way endorsing, accepting, condoning or supporting gay marriage! The issuing of a license in NO WAY prevents the clerk from believing that gay marriages are wrong! It in no way violates their right to believe what they want. Ironically, I asked some friends who supported the clerks, "Would you still feel it was violating their freedom of religion if the clerks refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple because they believed that interracial marriages were a sin?" They usually answered no, but couldn't explain why the two situations were different. (That's because they're not.) I honestly never anticipated that there really were people out there in government jobs doing just that.

I'm glad this has been brought to light. I hope if anyone else has run into any other elected officials who practice discrimination with impunity come forward and say "This has got to stop!" I applaud the couple who was denied their rights for coming forward and speaking up. But I really would like to know why all the other people who knew about this happening for 34 years just sat by and did or said nothing! It blows my mind. As one of characters in a book I've written says, "If you refuse an active role in preventing injustice, you accept an active role in perpetuating it." Every one of those people who knew and said nothing have actively perpetuated injustice for 34 years. That blows my mind.