On Gay Marriage
This whole gay marriage controversy is simply ridiculous. Sedalina has one of the better takes on the topic (as well as some particularly ignorant feedback from readers), and also led me to do to a little Googling to find the following:
An Act to Preserve Racial Integrity
5. It shall hereafter be unlawful for any white person in this State to marry any save a white person, or a person with no other admixture of blood than white and American Indian. For the purpose of this act, the term “white person” shall apply only to the person who has no trace whatsoever of any blood other than Caucasian; but persons who have one-sixteenth or less of the blood of the American Indian and have no other non-Caucasic blood shall be deemed to be white persons. All laws heretofore passed and now in effect regarding the intermarriage of white and colored persons shall apply to marriages prohibited by this act.
from the Virginia Racial Integrity Act of 1924
Eugenic Laws Against Race Mixing
Paul Lombardo, University of Virginia
By 1915, twenty-eight states made marriages between “Negroes and white persons” invalid; six states included this prohibition in their constitutions…
The 1958 case of Loving v. Commonwealth of Virginia initiated a challenge that would eventually overturn the law… By unanimous decision, in 1967 the [United States Supreme] Court struck down the Racial Integrity Act and similar laws of fifteen other states, saying: “[T]here can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the Equal Protection Clause… Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the state.”
My one-year review went better than expected. Only a 3% raise, but it's the max they're giving this year (after two years of no increases!) so I can't complain too much. More importantly, I negotiated a restructuring of the department that will move me from a generalist working on several different publications as needed to focusing on a few and putting my own imprint on them. I might also get to take a Quark and Photoshop class which would help in my overall plans for world domination. Or at least fleshing out my resumé. Plus, I'll get a six-month review…
Debate Reactions
Initial reactions to tonight's debate (which will be repeated tonight on CNN at Midnight EST, 9pm PST): 1. Ted Koppell, you may step down from the #1 Jackass platform. Larry King, please take Mr. Koppell's place. Self-important moron! 2. Edwards came as close to getting the one-on-one he said he wanted as the panelists treated Kucinich and Sharpton like nerds at a frat party, focusing most of their attention on the two front-runners. And he blew it. Mostly. The nice guy schtick needs to stop if he really wants to be President as he was handed several greased softballs to…
Pumpkin Seeds: 2/26/2004
1. Can The Passion of Christ be nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay next year? Or Best Foreign-Language Film? As I see it, that's the only legitimate controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's movie. I repeat: IT'S A MOVIE! 2. Lena Horne forces Janet Jackson to drop out of her bio-pic. Justin Timberlake is forced to step down from co-hosting a Motown tribute. J.C. Chasez, guilty by association, was booted from a Pro Bowl appearance. ER, completely unconnected, is forced to blur a peripheral shot of a dead woman's breasts. 20 more US soliders have been killed in Iraq since the Super Bowl,…
All kinds of random weirdness at Acentos last night, starting with the big ass pool table smack in the middle of the already-small-to-begin-with Blue Ox! Nice turnout, to the point where the open mic is starting to feel a little on the long side and Oscar even had to cut a couple of people. The double-edged sword of success. All of the regulars were in the house, plus some surprise drop-ins like Seve, Jeannie (with Ed, who was taping the feature) and Eric, who met me at my place beforehand. Funny how the guy I initially didn't like thanks to…
On Supporting Edwards
If you've read this journal at any point during the past eight months or so, you know I love debating politics. If you know me personally, you also know I despise blind, unquestioning devotion to anyone or anything. This weekend, I responded to a mass email from a Kucinich supporter offering their take on Johns Kerry & Edwards and cc'd DK's local Meetup group for the hell of it. It was a repost of my February 17th entry announcing/explaining my switch of support from Kucinich to Edwards, with a short preface for context. Not surprisingly, I received a reply questioning…