I first learned of the US Supreme Court case of Loving v. Virginia when I was researching constitutional laws and court cases regarding same-sex marriages. The SCOTUS decision overturned Virginia’s law against interracial marriages and ended all state’s raced-based restrictions on marriage.
In 1966, interracial marriages were illegal in 17 states. Before this court case, interracial bans were considered legal as long as both parties were equally punished.
The court wrote:
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 discrimination. 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.
– Supreme Court of the US, Virginia v. Loving
In 1998, South Carolina finally removed the clause in the state’s constitution that prohibited interracial marriages. At the time, 22% of South Carolina voters still opposed the removal of this clause even though it wasn’t enforceable due to the 1967 SCOTUS decision.
In 2000, Alabama was the last state to removed their law banning interracial marriage. At the time, 19% of Alabama voters still opposed the removal of this law even though it wasn’t enforceable due to the 1967 SCOTUS decision.
Two years ago (June 12, 2007) on the 40th anniversary of the decision, Mildred Loving (defendant in the 1967 SCOTUS case) spoke out on same-sex marriages saying:
Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.
I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.
– Mildred Loving, wife of Richard Loving (Virginia v. Loving)
Mildred Loving died last year (2008) of pneumonia while her husband, Richard, died in a car accident in 1975.
The web site Loving Day.org provides educational resources and lists of celebrations. One of the more interesting pages of the LovingDay.org web site is the Legal Map.
Resources:
- Loving Day.org
- Loving Day (Wikipedia)
- Loving v. Virginia (Wikipedia)
