Mildred Loving Dies

Mildred Loving, a black woman, is the matriarch of American interracial marriages. Loving and her husband Richard, a white man, challenged Virginia’s ban on interracial marriage. In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld their right to marry. The ruling struck down laws banning racially mixed marriages in at least 17 states. The court ruled in a unanimous decision, holding “There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the equal protection clause.”

Mildred and Richard got married in 1958 in Washington, but when the returned to Virginia, they were arrested for violating the law. They plead guilty to charges of “cohabitating as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth.” They avoided jail time by agreeing to leave their home state of Virginia. They eventually moved to Washington.

Once in Washington, they launched their legal challenge to the law by writing to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who referred the case to the American Civil Liberties Union and the case eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

I remember reading about the Loving case in Constitutional law class, but now that Swamps and I married, it takes on a whole new meaning because it’s easy to forget that 50 years ago we wouldn’t have been able to marry because we’re of different races. The Lovings paved the way for us to get married hassle free (relatively speaking). Although they’re probably in heaven with all our great freedom fighters, I want to thank you for standing up for the notion that love and marriage is really color blind.