Your bathroom too? My goodness, you ARE progressive!

Anybody who thinks racism is a thing of the past isn’t paying attention. Or maybe I’m just in a time warp and it’s not really 2009. (It is 2009, isn’t it?)

Meet Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell from Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. He kinda has an itty bitty little problem with marrying interracial couples. Just doesn’t do it. He has turned down four couples in the last three years. This time, it looks like Mr. Bardwell said no to the wrong couple. They’re going to the Justice Department, and I’m looking forward to a happy ending.

But back to Judge Bardwell. He swears he’s not a racist. No, really. He’s not! Here, let him explain: “’I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way,’ Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. ‘I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else.’”

Oh, okay, I get it now. If you let them use the same bathroom, it’s not racism. Well, thank you for clearing that up. I guess it’s just never been explained to me that way before.

Geez!

Then, a few days ago, I came across this other charming little item about a restaurant in Paulding County, Georgia. On its website, this place bills itself as the “original Klan, klam, and oyster bar.” No, I’m not kidding. And by the way, I’m not posting this guy’s website link because I don’t want to give him any more traffic that he’s already getting. If you want it, you’ll have to find it yourself. But I already looked, and trust me: it’s as bad as it sounds. Maybe even worse.

You know, I’ve seen more of this stuff in the past few weeks than I think I’ve seen in the past five years. Earlier this week, Hatewatch posted another one – this one about “filthy Jews,” brought to you by everybody’s favorite civil rights promoter, the Westboro Baptist Church.

We are not in a time warp. It really is 2009. But don't kid yourself: Jimmy Carter is absolutely right.