flickering pictures

I hadn’t heard of her either, but I wish I had.

In 1958, at the tender age of 18, a pregnant Mildred Jeter travelled to Washington, D.C. to marry Richard Loving. Mildred was black, Richard was white, and interracial marriage was illegal in their home state of Virginia. In spite of their novel attempt to get around the law, they were arrested on their return, taken away in the middle of the night and banned from living together. The charge, according to MSNBC: “cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth.”

Very much in love, they refused to live apart, and moved to D.C. to circumvent the ban. Once there, Mildred took the state of Virgina to court. Black people didn’t often have their grievances heard by the Supreme Court, and black women even less so, but against all odds, she won her day in court; in 1967 interracial marriage bans were struck down across America. At least 17 states were forced to change their laws.

On May 2, Mildred Loving died. But last year, on the 40th anniversary of the landmark ruling, she released a statement that included the following:

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.

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