Terence McKay and Beth Humphrey were given quite a shock when they tried to get married by justice of the peace Keith Bardwell in Louisiana.  Mr. Bardwell refused to sign the license, saying in his experience, interracial marriages did not last long, and that he was concerned for any children the couple might have.

Mr. Bardwell needs to keep up with the times.  While it’s true that many “mixed-race” children suffered identity crises and were often tormented by peers and in their souls in the 1960s and 1970s, in 2009 it’s generally believed that multiracial children don’t fare any better or worse that children of other ethnic categories.  According to Time Magazine:

…a new paper in the Journal of Social Issues shows that multiracial adolescents who identify proudly as multiracial fare as well as — and, in many cases, better than — kids who identify with a single group, even if that group is considered high-status (like, say, Asians or whites).

Look no further than Tiger Woods, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Alicia Keys, Apolo Anton Ohno, or Barack Obama himself to see examples of highly successful multiracial individuals.  Heck, I found several sources online claiming that Winston Churchill was part Native American!  I’m glad that no one told those children they were born to a life of torment and suffering.

And as for the marriages not lasting?  I’d be willing to bet that two 18 year old kids that get married have a much higher chance of divorcing than an interracial couple, based on statistics alone.  It’s a fact that the divorce rate goes up for subsequent marriages, does Mr. Bardwell deny matrimony to couples that had previously been married?

I’m a proponent of individual rights, the rights of citizens to make their own choices, no matter how asinine or archaic they may be.  But if Mr. Bardwell wants to only marry the couples that he believes will “make it,” and who will raise well adjusted children together, he better start requiring premarital counseling before he agrees to marry anyone. It is impossible to determine whether or not two people will have a lifelong marriage or raise happy, healthy children based on outward appearances alone.