Tom Hayes: Skin color? Again?

As you've probably learned, Louisiana magistrate Keith Bardwell, a Justice of the Peace, recently refused to grant a marriage license to an interracial couple out of "concern" for the effect(s) on any children born of that relationship.

“I’m not a racist,” Bardwell, told the Hammond, Louisiana, Daily Star. “I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house. My main concern is for the children.”

If denying a couple in their 30s a marriage license based on them being different colors isn't racism, I'm not entirely sure we're all using the word the same way. It's been well over a year since then-candidate Barack Obama gave a candid, frank speech of our history and how we need to move beyond the out-dated use of color that divides us and inhibits our success, and I invite Keith Bardwell to review it. His actions are unacceptable to me, and violate principles laid down by our founding fathers in establishing the basic tenets we have relied on ever since - the Constitution of the United States of America.

I’ve got many friends from diverse backgrounds, that's the marvelous opportunity of living in the world's greatest melting pot. We talk about race from time to time. We understand that we've far from overcome the lingering, emotional "not like me ism," the "stick to your own kind" mindset of those who insist they aren't racists yet continue to speak and act as though skin color is the most important way to categorize people.

I trust any U.S. magistrate would say it is, indeed, self-evident that the egalitarian principles embodied in our Constitution and the Bill of Rights are widely acknowledged as both our guiding vision and our best weapon in the “War on Terrorism.” Here's something I shouldn't have to explain: That bit about "all men are created equal" applies to skin color as well, Mr. Bardwell.

In a recent column at Creators.com, Connie Schultz described a conversation she had with a non-white friend regarding race. Her column included the Jay smooth video above, from the illdoctrine.com website.

He listened patiently as I whined about how hard it is to nudge people on the issue of race.

Then he set me straight.

"Your problem," he said, "is that you want everyone to have that kumbaya moment and feel the change in their hearts. I don't need that. They can take all the time they want to drag their hearts along, but I want their words and deeds to change right now because what they do can have an impact on my children and on my grandchildren."

Connie Schultz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and the author of two books from Random House: "Life Happens" and "… and His Lovely Wife." To find out more about Connie Schultz (cschultz@plaind.com) and see other columns visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

The fever of hope is contagious

Less than one year after his election as the 44th President of the U.S.A., Barack Obama's un-whiteness figures in world-wide perception of political reality in the United States. Centuries after the Constitution declared that all men are created equal, decades after the signing of the U.S. Civil Rights act, Obama's skin color highlights the potential for real change in our view of community.

President Obama's candor about skin color has elevated the conversations everywhere about our obsolete, insidious prejudices - but there are evidently parts of Louisiana where they need to be encouraged to listen harder.


Thomas Hayes is a political analyst, journalist, and entrepreneur who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics including economics, politics, culture, and community.

He's pro-diversity.