The Development of Loving v. Virginia and Interracial Marriage in America

I first discovered the Loving v. Virginia case when I watched Richard Fridenberg’s  Mrs. & Mrs Loving in my sleepy boredom one night as I hunted Hulu for something half-interesting to watch. As soon as I saw the image and title I knew I was going to watch the whole thing — even if it sucked. I loved it! First off, Mildred (acted by Lela Rochon) was gorgeously stunning in her natural simplicity; and her voice was so sweet and soothing no wonder Richard couldn’t resist her! Richard’s (played by Timothy Hutton) confidence, bravo and determination were ‘on point’.

Mr. and Mrs. Loving is the dramatized story of Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter. They were a young interracial couple in love in the 1960’s that decided marry despite the opposition of their local community. In 1959, after overcoming their prejudices, but with lingering fear, Mildred’s family put their all into planning a traditional southern wedding complete with a barnhouse hoedown. It was not long, however, before the couple faced just the beginnings of their struggles.

Not long over a month after they were married, the police raided their home, arrested them, and detained them in prison. The Loving’s were taken to court for a violation of Section 20-59 of Virginia law that prohibited the marriage between a white and a black. They were given a choice: three years in prison or leave the state entirely. The disappointed couple plead guilty and choose to move to Washington D.C. and avoid any futhur possible threats and dangers. They were able to smuggle into Virginia to visit their family occasionally, but eventually they grew tired of that. They decided to take the state to court.

At the Virginia court, the Loving’s made no progress. Read the words of trial court Judge Leon Bazile:

“Almighty God created the races white, black, malay, and red, and placed them on separate continents, and but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend the races to mix.”

In 1959 after a battle and much time, resources, and energy the Lovings lost the case, and the law was upheld. The Loving’s weren’t the first ones to take this issue to court, this issue had been a long standing point of controversy. In fact, in 1913 Congressman Seaborn Roddenberry proposed a bill to maintain and strengthen the then-current Anti-Miscegenation laws.

Intermarriage between whites and blacks is repulsive and averse to every sentiment of pure American spirit. It is abhorrent and repugnant to the very principles of Saxon government. It is subversive of social peace. It is destructive of moral supremacy, and ultimately this slavery of white women to black beasts will bring this nation a conflict as fatal as ever reddened the soil of Virginia or crimsoned the mountain paths of Pennsylvania…. Let us uproot and exterminate now this debasing, ultra-demoralizing, un-American and inhuman leprosy —Congressional Record, 62d. Congr., 3d. Sess., December 11, 1912, pp. 502–503

(Pure American spirit, Saxon government, moral supremacy, un-American and inhuman leprosy…these words were spoken in Congress? Seriously?)

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Despite the fact that they were fighting a long existing battle, the Lovings did not give up. They proceed to appeal the case and have it seen by the Virginia State Supreme court, but unfortunately again, they lost and the law was upheld. For a while, the Lovings settled to remain complacent in Washington D.C., separated from their families, and subjected under a law that criminalized their love for each other.

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But one day, a frustrated yet still determined Mildred penned a letter of petition to Attorney General Robert Kennedy. He then directed her to the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) who decided to take the case on the basis that the Virginia courts decisions violated the fourteenth amendment. The ACLU recommended that the Lovings take their case to the highest court of the land and supported them along the way.On June 12th 1967 The United States Supreme Court unanimously decided  that true love is color blind and no law should prohibit any two individuals from the privilege of marriage solely based on the race of their ancestors or the color of their skin. Chief Justice Earl Warren so eloquently stated:

“Marriage is one of the ‘basic civil rights of man,’ fundamental to our very existence and survival…. To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State’s citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not to marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.”

When the Loving v. Virginia was decided, there were approximately sixteen states that still had laws prohibiting the marriage between a white person and black person. Anti-miscegenation laws, whose purpose it was to preserve segregation of the races especially in regards to romantic relationships and make the act of marriage between two races a crime, existed. The laws changed in not just those sixteen states, but in every state.

We thank the Loving’s on this day not only for having the courage to stand and follow their hearts but for the  opportunity and legal protection that they provided for so many other interracial couples; and not just black and white couples, but red and yellow, black and white, we’re all equal by the law.

June 12th was National Loving day.

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Touched By An Angel

We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love’s light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

— Maya Angelou

Check out the National Loving Day website here.They host an annual rally.

And here is a link to check out an interesting NPR piece by John Ridley where he observes how the country that once considered the romantic union between a black person and white person now has a commander in chief of mixed ethnicity.