Loving was a crime, but for Richard and Mildred Loving, it was also their last name. Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act became a law of the state in 1924, claiming to preserve racial integrity. This act was fundamentally based on the eugenics movement and its racial motivations to segregate in any means necessary. It essentially stated that, to be “white”, one had to have no non-Caucasian lineage. In a way, it was a justification to selectively breed Virginians. The only exception to this rule, the Pocahontas Exception, allowed for white Americans to claim their Native lineage and still enjoy the rights given to white Americans. However, it was thought that mixed-race Virginians would claim Native ancestry to disguise their black ancestry. Therefore, Walter Plecker, a supporter of the act, claimed no native born Virginian Native Americans were eligible for the Pocahontas Exception.Â
Mildred Loving was no exception to this rule being of Black and Native descent. Years later during the Reconstruction era, many southern states continued to restrict the rights of Black Americans. Even after the 14th Amendment was enacted, the separate but equal clause served as a foundation for states to implement discriminatory laws. Also known as Jim Crow laws, they extended from segregating public facilities to marriages. Richard and Mildred were raised in Caroline County, Virginia, where segregation and discrimination barely existed or mattered. To avoid Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act, they legally married on June 2,1958, in Washington, D.C. unknowing that their marriage would be invalid in the state of Virginia. Soon after, police barged into their home and arrested the two.Â
Anti-interracial marriage laws remained legal with the reasoning that both parties would be punished equally. Mildred, who was pregnant at the time, and Richard were found guilty and sentenced to one year in prison which was suspended under the condition they leave Virginia for 25 years. The Lovings and their three children moved to Washington, subject to separation from their family and unequal opportunity for five years. Through relentless love and determination, Mildred took the honorable action to write to the attorney general at the time, Robert Kennedy, for help. The case was passed to Bernard Cohen and Phillip Hirschkop, volunteer attorneys of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).Â
The attorneys reopened the Lovings’ case in Virginia courts and brought it up to the Supreme Court by appealing every loss in state court. They reasoned with the court that anti-interracial marriage statutes were slavery statues, that they purposefully violated the due process and equal protection clauses under the Fourteenth Amendment. The heart of the 14th Amendment’s purpose was to protect Black Americans. They argued that there was no harm being done to the welfare of mixed-race children and the Loving’s had the right to privacy. Ultimately, the court ruled the prohibitions on interracial marriages were unconstitutional and were to be struck down from any state prohibitions on June 12, 1967.
In a month honoring Black history and love, it’s essential to reflect on Black love and its many forms. Love has the strength to alter legislation, to outlast generations, and touch other hearts. Loving v. Virginia wasn’t just a legal victory, it highlighted that interracial love is worth protecting.