One year ago, myself and two friends started this website/organization. We had all been friends for several years on the Internet and originally met on a Yahoo chat group for Mothers with Biracial children. We had often talked about what it was like to be in an interracial relationship and/or family. Over time we, and several other women jumped to MySpace, and finally Facebook and still kept in touch. At this point several of us were starting out own personal blogs.
Then the national news story hit about the Justice of the Peace in Louisiana who had refused to marry an interracial couple,  Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay .We all blogged about it. No big deal. THEN, that JP, Keith Bardwell, defended himself by saying to a newspaper, “ I’m not a racist,” Bardwell told the newspaper. “I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house. My main concern is for the children.” Bardwell explained that he had seen “countless” interracial couples where the children were rejected by family members, and he didn’t want to see that happen again.
Video of JP Keith Bardwell’s defense of his actions  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnm0k7Mpghc
Now that got my attention. One more story about the negativity of of IR couples and children that was feeding into the stereotypes I had to fight everyday. I sarcastically wrote a blog saying we should having our own organization- IFO- Interracial Family Organization so we could protest and have conferences and t-shirts fir our cause. I called Kat and said I wanted all our friends to send Christmas cards to this JP with pictures of our beautiful family. Kat and I got concerned about monitoring hate mail.Kat is a web designer and in a couple of day, our website was done. It had far exceeded my expectations for what we were to do.
Before we let the website go live, Kat and I contacted Beth Humphrey and asked if she was OK with us doing that. She gave her blessing and said when things settle down, she would do an interview for us for the site. Time has past by so quickly. I contacted Beth again and asked she would be willing to do the interview now and she graciously accepted. I felt like this was perfect timing since she has now had the opportunity to reflect on what happened a year ago.
Video of couple being interviewed on CNN- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJvqOjxB2Mo
A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO BETH for her time and thoughts!!Â
#1- They said that the first year of marriage is the hardest. How’s the married life? Best thing? Worst thing?
The hardest part about our first year has been financial. Terence lost his job due to the economic times and finding a new one was so difficult. Learning how to manage our finances together has been…..challenging. LOL. We have different approaches to finances and finding that middle ground is getting easier. Terence is back at work now so that is a blessing!
#2- Was any of the attention you two received intentional? Wanted? A curse? A blessing? Bizarre? Irritating?
The attention was unexpected and very sudden. We were shocked and bombarded at our home and on our phones. Some were more respectful than others. I will say that CNN was amazingly nice and caring. It was international attention and I got to do an interview with the BBC which was an honor.
#3- What type of a wedding did you 2 have? Was it simple, intimate, lavish, quick, funny, chaos, perfect?
We had a great wedding planned but when Terence lost his job he found a temporary position locally that refused to give him off for the wedding. We had to cancel it and that’s when we just went to the Justice of the Peace. And the rest is history….our ceremony was so very simple. But really I loved it. We went on a Friday afternoon in jeans. My best friend was there with her husband as witnesses. One day we will have a nice big party or something fun.
#4- How did you 2 meet and how did your proposal go?
I had just moved back to the area to start on my masters. I took a part time job at a bar/club taking money at the door till I found a job. Terence was asking for my number and just being sweet all night and I told him no and he took it really well and told me something funny and really caught me off guard with his personality sooooo I gave him the number!
#5- There is a precious new addition to your family! Congrats! How do you hope your little angel thinks about the media whirlwind that happened surrounding mom and dad’s marriage?
We will teach him that our family is an example to those that think color defines us. It’s our responsibility to show them that they are wrong. He is so very special and its so profound that one of the Justice of the Peace’s reasons for not marrying us was because of children we might have. Our world now revolves around his little self and we couldn’t be anymore blessed. We will be the best parents that hateful man has ever seen. (sorry got a little angry)
#6- Did you lose any friends or family because of all the stress or attention giving to you? Did people in your community change towards you in any way?
We didn’t loose relationships due to this. It brought out the truth in people and we already knew who didn’t support our choices. We received good and bad feedback from the community but funny thing is all the negative was through the Internet!
#7- What was the best thing and the worst thing that came as a result of your experience taking on the Justice of the Peace?
 The best thing was that the Justice of the Peace lost his job! The worst was that it showed the ignorance of the people around us. There was a lot of negative comments on the web and it showed that people still agree with racism. But, that is a good thing because it can’t be changed until it’s exposed.
#8- Have you had other people express that you were inspirational or motivational by letting your story go public?
We did have people tell us we were inspirational or that they were proud. We were just like….um we just love each other and God has taught us to be people who don’t live life based around our color or culture. We are who we are because of Christ and Christ alone. He has blessed us!
#9- Any regrets?
No regrets!
#10- How much does the issue of race play a part in your family and marriage nowadays?
We surround ourselves with supporters not haters. SO WHATEVER THEY MIGHT WANT TO BRING TO OUR LIVES THEY HAVE TO DO FROM A DISTANCE. And God has kept us safe!
thanks Beth! great interview!