A racist, wedding hall owner is expressing regret after denying an interracial couple a space to get married. The apology comes days after a short clip of her explaining her beliefs on gay and mixed race couples went viral on social media.
According to the Washington Post, the video was captured by LaKambria S. Welch, the sister of one-half of the couple denied a wedding venue by the owner of Boone’s Camp Event Hall. Welch drove to the Booneville, Mississippi, business with her mother in search of an explanation from the venue about why her brother, who is African-American, and his bride, who is white, were told they could no longer use their facility after once being confirmed to come and see the location.
Upon her arrival, Welch was met by a woman identified as the owner of the event space. When confronted with the question of why she was no longer allowing the couple to hold their wedding at her property, the woman can be heard on the video saying, “We don’t do gay weddings or mixed race, because of our Christian race—I mean, our Christian belief.”
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Welch calmly challenges the owner’s reasoning and adds that her family is also Christian. The venue owner says she’s not interested in arguing her beliefs. Although the exchange seemingly stops there, online comments brought on by more than 2 million views on Twitter and YouTube, apparently caused the owner to reconsider her own beliefs.
In a now-deleted Facebook post captured by a user, the owner apologizes saying, in part, that her husband called her to confront her biases by looking in the bible to see where it says that interracial marriages are wrong. Surprisingly, for her, she could not find it.
“To all of those offended, hurt or felt condemn by my statement I truly apologize to you for my ignorance in not knowing the truth about this,” the screenshot of the apology reads. “My intent was never of racism, but to stand firm on what I ‘assumed’ was right concerning marriage.”
The event hall owner blamed her rearing in Mississippi as a reason for her misinformation and admitted to never actually taking the time to study her bible herself. But Welch is not buying it. In an email to the Washington Post, the supportive sister said, “I am 24 and have been brought up my entire life in a Christian Family; my grandad being a reverend. If I know that the Bible doesn’t say anything about biracial marriages, she knows too.”
