40th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision overturning the ban on interracial marriage
David on Jun 12th 2007
Today, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in the case of Loving v. Virginia. Richard Loving (a white man) and Mildred Jeter (a black women) left their home state of Virginia to evade the state’s ban on interracial marriage. They wed in the District of Columbia in June of 1958. When they returned to Virginia, the couple was arrested and charged with violating the state’s interracial marriage ban.
Leon Bazile was the trial judge for the case, and issued the following statement:
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 Lovings filed a series of lawsuits based on the fourteenth amendment; the case eventually made it all the way to the Supreme Court. Interestingly, many churches expressed their support for the Lovings and jumped on the bandwagon for social change (including the Catholic Church).
Exactly 40 years ago, on June 12, 1967 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Lovings and 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 discriminations. 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.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t until 2000 when the last state (Alabama) officially lifted its ban on interracial marriage.
When reading the Supreme Court’s decision, it’s easy to see the overlap with the marriage equality movement. Today, 40 years later, we are still asking many of the same questions. If marriage is one of the “basic civil rights of man, fundamental to our very existence” then why is it being denied in legislatures and court rooms across the country to our families?
To learn more about Loving v. Virginia, or to participate in today’s celebration visit the national Loving Day website. Be sure to check out the special Loving v. Virginia page on the Freedom to Marry website.
[…] some great commentary on the anniversary around the blogosphere today. The Family Pride Coalition asks, “If marriage is one of the “basic civil rights of man, fundamental to our very […]
Is there still any question that the civil rights of the minority should not be determined by the majority? If “Let the people vote” had prevailed in the Loving’s era, Mildred Loving would still be rotting in jail in Virigina!
oh,,,, guys, you can not image what I have found. I just met my love half year ago and we will get married next month, and interracial love of course. Am I lucky? So lucky I think, and I wanna share my happiness with all of you here.
By the way, I found my half part baby on a great site. He is really gorgeous, even sometimes he is a liittle shy. -:) If you try, you also can be the next lucky one. LOL. Here it is http://www.interracialchats.com .
Bye!! and good luck to you all.