Interracial marriage in Louisiana

[raven]

So, I am posting after quite a lot of a bottle of wine, and a pitcher labelled "pink spritzer" which I am told had both pinot grigio and blackberry liqueur making up most of its volume. But. Some things you post about when you're drunk, too, and sometimes drunkenness is what lends you the eloquence.

The BBC reports: Anger at US mixed marriage "ban"; ThinkProgress had more. Basically, some justice of the peace in Louisiana is getting his place in the sun by talking publically about how he doesn't issue marriage licences to interracial couples, though he does like black people, and even lets them use his bathroom. I mean, he's not a racist, like. He does it for the sake of the children.

The funny thing is, it isn't actually a picnic growing up as a child of two cultures. If you're really unlucky, your mother will be Lowri Turner and she'll write in a national newspaper about how much of a racist she is and how sensitive, thoughtful and attentive she isn't going to be to your journey being a child of more than one world. White people are funny like that; they think they are the normal, and everyone else is "multicultural" and "ethnic" and strange; they think they are the only way to be. But we outnumber you, you know. Right now, we outnumber you in volume of numbers - I'm an Indian woman, one in twelve of living humans is Indian and female, and one in six is brown (and stands up straight, and is strong, intelligent and beautiful, despite not being pale like you). Right now, we outnumber you; mathematically, we are the normal, and it's only accidents of history that make you so proud of being white. (Even if we weren't, we sing, dance and tan better than you. Deal.)

And then, interracial relationships are quite close to my heart, as a topic, as a way of losing all sorts of privilege, but also as a truth it's very difficult to deny. I grew up as a brown person in a white culture; I'm whiter than lots of people who are white, establishment baby lawyer with PPE degree from Oxford, but I can look in the mirror and never be white, when the summmer comes I wear strappy tops and feel the sun beneath my skin, I'm brown, brown, brown again. (And I am strong, intelligent and beautiful too. Deal with that as well.) Right now that's strange, and odd; exploring being the child of two cultures is something we don't talk about - in America they have hyphenated identity, they don't have this odd British thing of being British but having come from somewhere else within the last generation, of having a place I came from and a place I'm going but not a place I am. And right now that is strange - but we outnumber you. I say it over and over again, but the nation-state is dying, slowly, slowly; a nation is a group of people who identify together, who are one culture, one people; and a state is a political entity of people who are governed together, and it has been another accident of history that the two have so often coincided, but it's just that, a coincidence. Why should people who are one people all live in the same place? Every people has people who wake up one morning and take long journeys in search of better things.

So Mr. Bardwell and his interracial marriages are all very nice, and think of the children: the children who will be all there is, who will all that is left after a world has understood that race is a thing and ethnicity is a thing and people and community are other things, and the world is marching on, on, towards better things. He can live in Louisiana and not issue marriage licences to interracial couples but he's an old man and he'll be dead soon, and I woke up this morning and I am still myself, still brown and strong, and my partner is white, and we are human beings, and tomorrow is the festival of light, and we celebrate it as part of a billion people, and no one can take it away from us, that endless beauty in the world.

Comments

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

It may be a drunk!blog, but it's beautifully true. Cheers!

[greek-jester.livejournal.com]

I wish there was something I could say to make it better. I wish there was some way to take the Mr Bardwell's of the world & make them see, somehow.

P.S. Don't forget the water & the asprin - especially the water :-)

[icepixie]

feel the sun beneath my skin

Was this phrasing deliberate? 'Cause I think it's awesome, the idea of sun beneath your skin.

(The rest of the post is great too!)

[osymandias.livejournal.com]

That was very eloquent :-)

[emerald-embers.livejournal.com]

*headdesks*

Yeah, my cousins Amber and Andrew wouldn't be here if not for interracial marriage (English + Filipino) so... yeah. Ugh.

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Excellent post. People are people are people.

We had a box of Celebrations from the temp assistant IT person today. She seemed surprised that I went into her office to wish her 'Happy Diwali' rather than just 'Thanks for the Chocolates'. But we got to talk about sweets and fireworks and my attempts to fit lots of festivals into not enough evenings for the Brownies.

Have a lovely day tomorrow!

[emerald-embers.livejournal.com]

* And as I'm sober and completely lacking in eloquence regardless, just to clarify, that's an ugh of "Please to be falling onto a fire Mr Bardwell", not an ugh of "I hate my cousins". ;)

[jacinthsong.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

Love you. You are strong, intelligent and beautiful. Shubh Deepavali for forty minutes time, too.

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

This is an awesome post, and you are an awesome person.

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

My beautiful, beautiful first cousins once removed are the product of an interracial marriage. Fuck Bardwell.

You are beautiful and this post is beautiful. I think you're right. *hug*

Happy Diwali.

[mirabile-dictu.livejournal.com]

Beautifully written -- it moved me deeply.

[anotherusedpage.livejournal.com]

Gods, girl. This is beautiful to read. I love you a lot right now.

Happy Diwali, gorgeous.

[tau_sigma]

I am just horrendously shocked at so many of the things that have been said. And yes, I am in an interracial relationship, I guess; I hesitate - in fact, actively dislike - to label it as such because, no matter what Lowri fucking Turner says, it is not a statement. It is simply who I love. And it doesn't matter to either of us, and, for the record, he is the product of a mixed-race marriage (which, yes, didn't work out, but not at all because of cultural reasons) and it has had NO FUCKING ADVERSE EFFECT AT ALL on him. I am really quite angry at all this. (The old dude in Louisiana, etc., obv. not you.)

Also, happy Diwali. I fail a little, because I was going to send you a card or something (I have no idea if that is at all appropriate, but it was going to be my clumsy English way of not ignoring your cultural celebrations), but it was stuck in my head as the 20th October, so I am unexpectedly out of time. Sorry.

[nerves-patterns.livejournal.com]

So, so beautiful. Happy Diwali.

[deathbyshinies.livejournal.com]

<3. And happy Diwali. And <3 again, so many times.

[mystefaction.livejournal.com]

Marching towards better things, oh yes. Shubh Diwali.

[walkertxkitty.livejournal.com]

Wow...that is BOLD considering the general content of the population of Louisiana. My girlfriend Dorie lives there. Most of the state is composed of the Cajun population, which is multi-racial. Many of the families are of the French/German/African American (except they were slaves back then)/Native persuasion. They also intermarry within their clans. I've been introduced to twins, one dark skinned and one with red hair and blue eyes. I've seen brothers and sisters who ran every color of the human rainbow...from the same family.

This guy doesn't typify the attitude down there (Dorie and I don't get stares and she's Cajun and I'm unusual enough with my mix of Native and Swede features). I don't expect him to last long with his proclamation.

[47-trek-47.livejournal.com]

I'm whiter than lots of people who are white, establishment baby lawyer with PPE degree from Oxford

Would you be willing to explain this comment a bit? I'm confused as to what is intrinsically "white" about this--being educated and moving toward a powerful career? Am I misunderstanding that part of it? Are you using "white" to mean "privileged?"

I hope you'll excuse my ignorance! I am definitely not trying to argue at all, I'm just trying to understand your meaning.

[skywaterblue.livejournal.com]

This post is beautiful. I'm looking forward to a more fluid humanity.

[annikah.livejournal.com]

Beautifully written. Happy Diwali!

[yiskah.livejournal.com]

This is a great post. Thank you.

[darwinian-woman.livejournal.com]

*Squees for you* - thank you for this post :)

[foreverdirt.livejournal.com]

<3

[the-acrobat.livejournal.com]

That article makes me ragingly angry. As far as I'm concerned, that justice of the peace should have been fired, quietly, as soon as someone realized what he was doing. And I say quietly not because I don't think this sort of racism should be exposed (should be), but because I think people like this should not be allowed to grandstand. Exposing what he did for the purpose of public shaming is just fine. And I say fired because this kind of bigoted behaviour is absolutely not acceptable. And I don't have anything very coherent to say because it's Saturday morning after a very nice Friday night and I haven't had my coffee yet, but yeesh.
Every people has people who wake up one morning and take long journeys in search of better things. Yes.
Also, happy Diwali. Happy, happy you; I'm so glad for these approximately 10 years I've known you, brown, strong, intelligent and beautiful, and a better singer and dancer than I (though I do tan quite well ;)

[dr-biscuit.livejournal.com]

Yes to this.
Happy diwali <3