Interracial Marriage Not Allowed in This Guy's Book

A Louisiana justice of the peace in New Orleans recently refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple. Keith Bardwell claims he did this out of concern for any children the couple might have. Bardwell is justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish. He says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last.

But wait, Bardwell claims he is not a racist. "'I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way. I have piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else'". So he marries 2 black people and lets them use his toilet, but he won't marry a black person and a white person? That seems racist to me.

He said that he asks every couple who calls seeking him to marry them if they are interracial. If they are, he does not marry them.

Imagine calling up a justice of the peace, you are white, you're partner is black, and the justice says, "No, i cannot marry you, because you are a mixed-race couple and all couples like that never last". I would be pretty upset. He is violating my rights and not treating every person equally. This situation is the equivalent to "I can't marry Jack and Sue because marriages between people named Jack and Sue never last long". It's ridiculous, discriminatory, and unfair.