Drawing Lines in the Sand for Interracial Dating

By Janis Prince Inniss

Boy and girl meet. Boy and girl decide to wed. Boy (Terence McKay) and girl (Beth Humphrey) decide to marry. Girl calls justice of the peace to arrange for them to seal the deal.

And that’s when what may be a fairy tale romance came to a screeching halt: The justice of the peace was Keith Bardwell who refused to marry the pair because McKay is black and Humphrey is white. Bardwell said his refusal to marry the pair was not due to racism, but because of his concerns for children that the union might provide According to Bardwell, neither group accepts such children.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Boy and girl did marry, but no thanks to Justice Bardwell.

What do you think of the justice of the peace’s decision? Even if we agree with Bardwell, how would we decide who should get married? I take it that this justice of the peace would not have married President Barack Obama’s parents: The president’s mother was S. Ann Dunham, a white woman from the American Midwest, while his father was a black Kenyan, Barack Obama Sr. (Click here to have a look at some of the President’s family tree in pictures.)

The president self-identifies as African American and to most of us probably “looks” black, so I take it that if President Obama showed up at this justice of the peace’s with a woman who was the same color his mother was, the justice of the peace would refuse to perform such a marriage.

But what about Malia and Sasha Obama, the daughters of the President and his wife? Only looking at their recent paternal genealogy, we know that one of their grandparents and two of their great-grandparents were white. What if one or even both of the Dunhams was really “passing” for white?

Hmm, to simplify our thinking, let’s put aside the idea that one or both was really of mixed race. So going ahead with the idea that their paternal great-grandparents were white, would a prohibition against interracial marriage mean that neither girl should marry a white person?

Now factor in their maternal ancestry. The New York Times recently published a family tree of First Lady Michelle Obama. Included among the First Lady’s ancestors are Dolphus T. Shields, Michelle Obama’s great-great grandfather whose mother was an enslaved African. Perhaps that’s not surprising given that Michelle Obama is African American. However, Mr. Shields’ father was white!

And how would the “American Indian” strands of the First Lady’s ancestry that the The York Times mentions factor in to the equation? Exactly how much ”white blood” would the younger Obamas need to have to marry someone white?

Going back to the case of boy and girl being asked to wed elsewhere by the justice of the peace in Louisiana, a look at the video of the groom being interviewed about this dust-up suggests to me that the new husband, McKay, is “mixed”. (Given our tangled ancestries, such terms really should have “recently” as a prefix.) Suppose McKay has white ancestors, how recent would they need to be for his marriage to Humphrey not to be considered interracial and therefore problematic?

President Obama once would have been considered mulatto (of one white and one black parent) —a term formerly employed by the U.S. Census Bureau. In fact, in 1890 the Census Bureau tried to be more specific by adding the terms quadroon (one-fourth black blood) and octoroon (one eight black blood) to mulatto and black.

What ”portion” black are Malia and Sasha? Are you dizzy with the amount of math this way of thinking requires? More dizzying to me is that all of these terms and prohibitions (such as those from the justice of the peace) suggest that we know who is “fully” white or black or whichever race. In the context of trading enslaved Africans, the desire and need to “measure” black blood makes sense, at least economically and politically.

But given that we often don’t have to look very far to find “race mixing” in America, how can we make even attempt to regulate such unions? (Have you heard of Strom Thurmond? Thurmond was the longest serving Senator in U.S. history at the time of his death in 2003. He vehemently opposed Civil Rights but after his death, the daughter he had with a black woman revealed he was her father.)

As you might imagine, the Louisiana case has attracted lots of attention, including a call by the state’s Governor for Bardwell’s removal. Interracial marriage has long controversial, enough so to gain a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court: In the 1967 Loving v. Virginia case, the Court struck down state laws against interracial marriage. The ruling reads in part: “Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the state." Just as well…unless you have a bright idea of how we could, with great efficiency and clarity, actually define someone’s race. This case and others like it highlight that race is not as clear-cut of a concept as many of us might think. While we often view race as a biological construct, it is a social construct that we constantly struggle to define and make meaning of, often with serious consequences.

Comments

[deadale]

i think one must choose to marry who he wants to marry..
well, that is my point of view..

interesting post!

[Francesca Pauline]

I do not agree with what they Justice of the Peace did because it is not his decision who should get married, he is only making it legal. However, I do understand the reason for why he did it. It would be hard to be a bi-racial child because they wouldn't know if they were white or black. Because of the one drop rule a child who has even a little bit of black in them that is what they are considered. Anyone should be able to marry someone of a different race. I think it was out of line for the judge not to marry them although he has the right to not do it. Everyone has different opinions and this also makes me think if our society will ever be "okay" with interracial marriage and "okay" with different races without hostility.

[Rachel Martin]

I do not think anyone should be denied marriage especially because of their race. It goes against the ideas our country was founded upon. It states in the Declaration of Independence that "all men are created equal" so they should be married like everyone else. I think the preacher doesn't want whites to become the minority. There is no reason by law or by the bible that two people that love each other can’t get married.

[Chelsey Wallace]

I am biracial, my mother is creole and my dad is black. because of my parents relationship I see interracial marriage different. My boyfriend is white and I love him with all my heart I dont look at him because of the color of his skin I look at him because of his amazing personality. But his family really opened my eyes to the discrimination in this world.They only see me as his BLACK girlfriend , I know they dont see me for who I am and it really is amazing that people are still like that in this world. if I were to marry my boyfriend I feel like I would have more problems to deal with just in his family than I would anywhere else. I can only see the beauty in interracial couples , I see the world coming together and people loving one another no matter what the color of your skin is. God made each and everyone of us in his own image and he loves us all ,why cant everyone in this world realize that?

[JAQUANDA CLEMENTS]

I THINK IT IS HILARIOUS THAT RACISM IS THOUGHT TO BE OVER. IT WILL NEVER GO AWAY BECAUSE THERE WILL ALWAYS BE PEOPLE LIKE THIS JUSTICE OF PEACE. ALTHOUGH IT IS ONLY A VERY SMALL NUMBER OF OUT RIGHT RACISTS, IT EXISTS ON A LARGER, MORE SUBTLE SCALE THAN ANYONE LIKES TO ADMIT. IT IS EASIER TO PRETEND LIKE IT DOES NOT EXIST WHEN YOU DON'T SEE IT IN YOUR FACE EVERYDAY. THAT IS WHY WHITE PEOPLE CONVINCE THEMSELVES THAT BLACK PEOPLE ARE JUST BEING OVERLY SENSITIVE, OR MAKING IT UP. NEWSFLASH: RACISM IS REAL, NOT IMAGINED! EVEN IF IT WAS MADE UP, EVERY LIE BEGINS WITH SOME TRUTH. HOWEVER IT IS REAL, AND NO MATTER HOW WRONG IT IS, OR HOW MUCH PEOPLE SWEEP IT UNDER THE RUG, IT WILL NOT GO AWAY!

[Sam]

Being of different race is not something you can control. It's an ascribed status and no ones opinion should be able to change your feelings. Put yourself in their shoes. If someone had told you you were not aloud to marry the one you love, what would you do? Racisim might be something that never completely dies, which is very sad. People may never change. But all we can do is put the word out, and be as helpful as we can to over come this challenge of racisim.

[Jesse]

I believe that Justice Bardwell is stupid for not wedding the two. Interracial couples is what makes America special because in other countries people cant do that. America is based on freedom and rights, and if people of different race cant get married that ruins the whole purpose of America. Anybody of any race should be able to marry anybody they want, if they want to be another miserable married couple like every other married couple in the nation they should be able to. And since the Judge said its not about race its about race because there is no other reason to not wed the couple. People like the judge should be erased off the planet because they are against the beliefs of this country.

[Malik Ahmad]

A person should be able to marry whomever they want to marry. With that said, this is America where a person is entitled to their opinion no matter how stupid or pig headed. America has become a country that accepts everything and rejects very few things. Date and marry who you like but don't expect others to accept your relationship.

[Kaitlyn T.]

In my sociology class, I am learning about family and marriage. How each cultures' marriage is different and how some marriages are allowed while others are not. One type of marriage that people have a problem with is interracial marriage. I believe that interracial marriage should be allowed. It doesn't matter what the color of your skin is, as long as you are in love. You should be able to marry who you want because you love them. The state should not be allowed to infringe on this type of marriage either. Even if interracial marriage is allowed, there will always be issues on it.

[anna(african american dating site)jones]

Im saddened that a person in authority would say such a silly thing - or have the power to say it. I don't think you should stop interracial marrige because there are racists who could give the children a hard time. Talk about getting your values mixed up. I do agree with an earlier comment - there are still lots of racist people out there, and we probably shouldnt be so shocked.

[Sara Thomas]

I think that this is ridiculous. I'm so sick of people being so concerned about interracial marriages. When people love each other they aren't concerned about the skin color. It's not something they can hide, and they shouldn't have to. It should just be accepted, people are going to marry the one they love whether anyone likes it or not. Five years ago my cousin Kim gave birth to an African American child. The same goes with this. Having a child that has a different skin color shouldn't matter, we're going to love them either way black or white, alien or human there our kids so people should just back off and concern themselves with their own lives.

[Roman]

I like this post. I learned about interracial marriages and how society is beginning to accept it more and more. I think that yes society is accepting this factor of life but there is and always be people who don’t believe in it. Like Keith Bardwell, they don’t realize that interracial marriages are here to stay and should have an open mind about it.

[Jay L.]

Racism is a thing that is frowned upon in many developed areas of the world. Even though society today has evolved greatly evolved from racism, it seems that specks of racist behavior still remain in some people. Interestingly, the people who still look at “race” as a part of their judgment are afraid to admit to it. Are these people actually unaware of their views on “race” or are they just saying pretending to be unaware?

[Nicole]

I would have to say that everyone in society has some sort of prejudice to a particular extent whether the person admits it or not. There will always be racism to an extent but what matters is that society grows and tries to mature from racism but the hardest part will be change because change is a problem for society. Change is new and people do not like new. So as far as the couple goes, I am glad that they did not let Bardwell’s rejection stop them from getting married.

[Mature Dating]

Yeah it is a fact that people in the society do not accept inter race dating. Well even family members hesitate in this. Well this is a shame that even in this modern world, people have such a poor point of view.

[Jock]

What white females must know before dating a black man, shocking but true… don’t hate me I did not create these statistics.
http://niviusvir.wordpress.com/crime-statistics-from-the-department-of-justice/