BY-NC-SA "I'm Bi-racial. My father is black, and my mother is light skinneded." -King Anyi
At a young age, several women in my family use to tell me... "You better not bring home no white girl!" That was before I even started dating. Their comments had the opposite effect on me. I have dated several white women. I've also dated black, Latina, Asian, and mixed race women. I can say I don't have a racial preference. But I can say that some of my relatives wouldn't be too pleased with my dating history. And I find that puzzling, considering that these same relatives are light skinned. They are the children of interracial dating.
Recently in Louisiana, a licensed justice of the peace refused to grant an interracial couple a marriage license because he didn't feel races should be "mixing." In fact, Justice Keith Bardwell told the press, "There is a problem with both [racial] groups accepting a child from such a marriage." The justice's actions, comments and beliefs are so audacious in this day and age. I mistook the story for a joke when I first heard it. How such ignorance can survive in today's current social climate is not a surprise to me. What is shocking is how such ignorance can still exist so openly in such a public sector of society. You would think that even if someone did harbor such prejudicial feelings that they would keep a lid on it. Think about the countless moments of negative press and condemnation against executioners of such rhetoric that have cost them and their organizations countless millions. Bardwell's public stance not only encourages such ignorance, it undermines our progress as a society. More importantly it undermines the people of Louisiana by making them vulnerable to legal action and misrepresenting the citizens of the Creole State. Creole is a term used to refer to the descendants of Louisiana's early French settlers, African-Americans, and Native Americans who have been mixing in the state since before 1803, when Louisiana was purchased from France. In fact, I am a descendant of Louisiana Creoles.
Many of my bi-racial friends have struggled to fit in. They deal with questions about their ethnicity and which "culture" they should belong to. Reservations about race held by folks like Judge Bardwell do not help the situation. My family's view on dating hasn't helped me. I'll spare you all the made for Lifetime channel "Love and Tolerance" speeches. Truth is, I think it's ok for people to decide what racial preferences they have in a mate. I'd even go so far as to say you have the right to decide which race of people you DON'T want to date. When you get in the way of other people's preferences, however, you become less of a human, and more of an obstacle.
I am pleased that Louisiana State Justice, Elbert Guillory told CNN in an interview that there is a "good probability that corrective action will be taken" against Justice Bardwell. But I doubt it will push such ignorance back into the corners of society. It certainly won't stop my aunties from asking me "would it kill you to date a sista!?"
