“Americans born in the 21st century will shake their heads in disbelief on learning that 40 states once had laws prohibiting interracial marriage. The Supreme Court struck down the last of these statutes in the 1967 case of Mildred and Richard Loving, a black woman and a white man who were arrested and banished from Virginia for the crime of being married.”
“The Supreme Court ruling underscored the stupidity and unfairness of segregation. And the case drew back the curtain on the secret history of race in the South. But for Mildred and Richard this struggle was not about changing the world. It was about fighting for the right to be married to one another and then returning to the community that was their home.”
Could you imagine a constitutional amendment in Minnesota prohibiting interracial marriage? How about banning same sex marriage?
Mildred Loving, Who Battled Ban on Mixed-Race Marriage, Dies at 68 – New York Times.
NYT Opinion here.
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