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You may have seen this already, but it's still ridiculous and racist.
So the story goes this couple, one black man and a white female decide to get married in Lousiana. But this Judge Bardwell guy says no, because it's an interracial marriage.
Wait. This is breaking the law. This is discrimination.
But the funny thing is, the guy says he's not a racist. "I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," the racist said. Protip: Don't deny you're a racist before saying the definition to racism. And he refers to his black friends like this: "I have piles and piles of black friends." You do not have "piles", or oodles, or bunches, or even collections of black friends, you sick racist.
And of course, his excuse is THINK OF THE KIDS!
"There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage," Bardwell said. "I think those children suffer and I won't help put them through it."

This is utter bullshit. Is this really what happens in the 21st century? In America, arguably one of the most advanced countries in the modern age, where there is a black (well, technically the offspring of an interracial marriage) President, and Derek Jeter is not technically completely white? This is how the world sees America, as a bunch of racist bastards who even have to meddle in other people's marriages.
Seriously though, racism is bad.
Post edited October 21, 2009 by michaelleung
I saw that already. But it's Louisiana so I'm not at all surprised. In some ways America can be incredibly backwards sometimes.
I loved the 'piles and piles of black friends' remark. Talk about taking a stereotype and running with it.
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michaelleung: In America, arguably the most advanced country in the modern age...

I'm not sure I can agree with that in any way, shape or form.
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michaelleung: In America, arguably the most advanced country in the modern age...
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Wishbone: I'm not sure I can agree with that in any way, shape or form.

Well, they were at one point.
How about one of the most advanced countries?
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Navagon: I saw that already. But it's Louisiana so I'm not at all surprised. In some ways America can be incredibly backwards sometimes.
I loved the 'piles and piles of black friends' remark. Talk about taking a stereotype and running with it.

Next he's going to say his black friends travel in packs or something. It's insane.
Post edited October 21, 2009 by michaelleung
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michaelleung: Next he's going to say his black friends travel in packs or something. It's insane.

The way he phrased it - piles and piles - did make me wonder if there is a mass grave somewhere full of those who had previously sought interracial marriages. Given that the state has a reputation for lynching black people in interracial relationships, I wouldn't be surprised.
Just to clarify, this guy is not a judge, he is a Justice of the Peace, which means he is just a normal guy, not a lawyer or judge, who was elected or appointed to that position, is not required to have any education or experience in law enforcement and generally only deals with the more mundane aspects of the law (like marriage licenses), to free the real judges up for dealing with things like criminal cases. This guy was probably the brother/cousin/in-law/old buddy of whoever appointed him to the JP position and has absolutely no legal experience beyond signing the occasional marriage license. Nothing more than a dumb racist hick with a title.
As for "this is how the world sees America", The US is much more than just a parish in Louisiana, so if the world judges the entire country on the basis of the behavior of one man in one state the size of North Korea out of the over 300 million people in an entire country that is larger than all of Europe, then that is really their problem, not ours. If the world collectively pulled their heads out of their asses and stopped buying into all the national stereotypes, we'd all be much better off in the long run.
"I'm not racist, I just hate niggers" Smooth...
There's a bit of dark humour (if you'll pardon the pun) in that a justice of the peace is making a statement likely to create a breach of the peace...
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cogadh: As for "this is how the world sees America", The US is much more than just a parish in Louisiana, so if the world judges the entire country on the basis of the behavior of one man in one state the size of North Korea out of the over 300 million people in an entire country that is larger than all of Europe, then that is really their problem, not ours.

I moved to USA a few years ago and I have never heard so many racist jokes and remarks since I'm here. "Do you have black people in Europe ? My god ! Those fuckers are everywhere !" Truly disgusting.
The worst was during the Obama's election on the radio stations.
Racism is, without a doubt, everywhere, but over decades you have reached a level that will take more than one Obama to change things.
"This is how the world sees America" is not any better than "this is how america sees the world".
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cogadh: If the world collectively pulled their heads out of their asses and stopped buying into all the national stereotypes, we'd all be much better off in the long run.

I agree, USA included of course.
Post edited October 21, 2009 by Cambrey
Wow. Me and my interracial marriage collectively say fuck you to that guy. And let me guess, he's a KKK wannabe in his spare time.
I hate to play devil's advocate here but the guy is SORT of right. I have been in Louisiana about a year after the New Orleans floods and some of the people there really were as backwards as the world sees them. Maybe, just maybe, this JoP was thinking in terms of how backwards Louisiana really is and what kind of problems the parents and child would have in just that state. Of course, no one can really say what thoughts were behind his actions, whether completely discriminatory or doing something that he thought might hurt someone who was yet unborn.
Now, if a JoP in a Northern state did the same thing then we could most definetly assume the worst kind of racism behind the action described above.
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cogadh: As for "this is how the world sees America", The US is much more than just a parish in Louisiana, so if the world judges the entire country on the basis of the behavior of one man in one state the size of North Korea out of the over 300 million people in an entire country that is larger than all of Europe, then that is really their problem, not ours.
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Cambrey: I moved to USA a few years ago and I have never heard so many racist jokes and remarks since I'm here. The last one that I remember : "Do you have black people in Europe ? My god ! Those fuckers are everywhere !" Truly disgusting.
The worst was during the Obama's election on the radio stations.
Racism is, without a doubt, everywhere, but over decades you have reached a level that will take more than one Obama to change things.
"This is how the world sees America" is not any better than "this is how america sees the world".

I would have to ask where in America did you move? If it was almost anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon line, what you are saying does not surprise me in the least. There are definitely parts of the US where racism is very much alive and an embarrassment (like parts of Louisiana), but that is not the case with the entire country and I would even say it is not the case with the vast majority of the country.
Additionally, I would say that jokes and racism are really two different things. Comedy in the US has a long history of humor that hurts, i.e. it picks on cultural, racial, religious and other stereotypes, hence why we have entire volumes of black jokes, Polish jokes, Jewish jokes, gay jokes, etc. The fact that you ran into some of those jokes is not necessarily indicative of racism, as much as indication of the blank acceptance of the humorous aspects of the stereotype. I guarantee you, at the same time you were being told those black jokes, a black man was telling honky jokes, a Jew was telling Polack jokes and a gay man... well he was probably telling gay jokes about whites, blacks, Jews and Polacks. It might not be right, but it also isn't really racism.
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cogadh: If the world collectively pulled their heads out of their asses and stopped buying into all the national stereotypes, we'd all be much better off in the long run.
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Cambrey: I agree, USA included of course.

I did say "the world collectively" and "all the national stereotypes", I though that pretty much implied that the US was included.
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cogadh: Comedy in the US has a long history of humor that hurts, i.e. it picks on cultural, racial, religious and other stereotypes

Out of curiosity, have you heard of an Australian show called "Hey Hey Its Saturday" on the news in the last few weeks?
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cogadh: Comedy in the US has a long history of humor that hurts, i.e. it picks on cultural, racial, religious and other stereotypes
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Aliasalpha: Out of curiosity, have you heard of an Australian show called "Hey Hey Its Saturday" on the news in the last few weeks?

Oh, THAT. I saw that on the news and the clip in question. What unfunny trash.
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cogadh: I would have to ask where in America did you move? If it was almost anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon line, what you are saying does not surprise me in the least. There are definitely parts of the US where racism is very much alive and an embarrassment (like parts of Louisiana), but that is not the case with the entire country and I would even say it is not the case with the vast majority of the country.
Additionally, I would say that jokes and racism are really two different things. Comedy in the US has a long history of humor that hurts, i.e. it picks on cultural, racial, religious and other stereotypes, hence why we have entire volumes of black jokes, Polish jokes, Jewish jokes, gay jokes, etc. The fact that you ran into some of those jokes is not necessarily indicative of racism, as much as indication of the blank acceptance of the humorous aspects of the stereotype. I guarantee you, at the same time you were being told those black jokes, a black man was telling honky jokes, a Jew was telling Polack jokes and a gay man... well he was probably telling gay jokes about whites, blacks, Jews and Polacks. It might not be right, but it also isn't really racism.

Speaking of Polish jokes, I had to endure quite a few of them myself...even AFTER I told people that I am from Poland. Let's just say I know all the usual Polish jokes by heart now and, yes, I did live for quite a long time in the South.
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cogadh: Comedy in the US has a long history of humor that hurts, i.e. it picks on cultural, racial, religious and other stereotypes
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Aliasalpha: Out of curiosity, have you heard of an Australian show called "Hey Hey Its Saturday" on the news in the last few weeks?

No, I hadn't, but now I have. Unfortunately, the clip has been pulled from YouTube, so I can't really comment on it, but if Harry Connick Jr., a modern "white southern gentleman", found it offensive, then it probably was the kind of thing that would never have aired here.