After the Loving(s).........................not much has changed

The Lovings

Mildred Loving: RIP By: James Withers More on: Leon M. Bazile, Loving v. Virginia, marriage rights, Mildred Loving, Richard Loving

If you ever described the same sex marriage movement as an extension of civil rights, then you know Mildred Loving (if you don’t you really need to be ashamed). Mildred Jeter Loving was the wife of Richard Loving; in 1958 the then young couple decided to get married. He was white, she black, and the laws of Virginia, their home state, did not look kindly on their union because it was a violation of the state’s Racial Integrity Act. The couple were arrested in their home late one night and sentenced to a year in prison, a punishment that was voided if they left the state and did not to return for 25 years. Here are the words of their sentencing judge, Caroline County Circuit Court Judge Leon M. Bazile:

“Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he 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 for the races to mix.”

The passage of time allows us the privilege of mocking the good judge’s ahistorical mixing and matching of history, theology, and politics; however, his opinion, the law, and most citizens were against the Lovings. What’s important to remember about the couple is two things: 1) they had no intention of being activists (they didn’t even attend their own Supreme Court hearing, Loving v. Virginia), and 2) the couple just wanted to make a life for themselves and their children among family and friends. The couple did that when the Supreme Court finally struck down anti-miscegenation laws in 1967, returning to their Caroline County home. It would be nice to give this story a happy ending, but Richard Loving died in a car crash in 1975. From then until her death this week, Mildred Loving stayed away from the press, letting her love and marriage do all the talking.

True Civil Rights Giants.  Not by choice but because they were in love. If you are Bi-racial or in a marriage of mixed race you owe a great debt of gratitude to the Lovings. They changed the laws of the land simply by not allowing society to tell them they couldn't be in love. In the end love won out and the Lovings changed the face of this nation forever.