Friday, June 12, 2009

Happy Loving Day!


June 12, 1967, was a significant day in the United States. That's the day the Supreme Court decided in favor of Richard and Mildred Loving in the case brought against them by the state of Virginia.


Their "crime"? Living together in Virginia AFTER being married in Washington DC. Why was it a crime? Because they were an interracial couple, and that was illegal in the state of Virginia at the time. In fact, it was still illegal in 16 states in the union in 1967.


(Sidenote: Good lord! That's only two years before I was born. There were still states with anti-miscegenation laws on the books then?)


But on this day in 1967, the Supreme Court struck down the state laws against interracial marriage. And today, the 12th of June is designated Loving Day, in support of multicultural families, and to celebrate the couple whose struggle helped grant Americans the right to marry whomever they want, regardless of race or ethnicity.


We still have a ways to go, but it was a giant step forward, and I wanted to say thanks to the Lovings, who have to be the most appropriately-named defendants in a Supreme Court decision, ever.


(And in any case, a romantic like me couldn't pass up a chance to celebrate something called Loving Day.)

5 comments:

Michelle B said...

Thanks for sharing, Kate! Definitely an interesting piece of history. It shocks me as well that this happened just 8 years before my parents (an interracial couple) got married. Who knows if I would have been here without that decision...

Diane Craver said...

Great post - thanks for writing about this! And you're right about their last name being appropriate.

Diane Craver said...

I'm tagging you. Sorry but it's a fun one.Really! :)
visit my blog http://www.dianecraver.com/blog

Amy Wise said...

Loving Day, such a great day to celebrate a wonderful and brave couple! Love your post, as I write about interracial marriage every week on my blog. =) Thanks for reminding everyone how special these two people truly were!

Amy
www.themanyshadesoflove.blogspot.com

Kate Davies said...

Wow, Michelle! It's amazing how something like this really hits home. And for it to be so recent! Sheesh.

Amy, I'll be sure to check out your blog. It sounds great!

And a tag? Thanks, Diane! I'll try to get to it ASAP.