June 12 Was National Loving Day! Do You Know Why?

June 12th is National Loving Day, but do you know what that is?

Well, it is the anniversary of the 1967 US Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia which struck down all anti-miscegenation laws remaining in sixteen U.S. states.

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In other words, it made marrying outside of your race legal!

According to Wikipedia, "Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote in the court majority opinion that 'the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State.'"

Real-life couple, Mildred and Richard Loving were married in Washington D.C. and upon moving back to their hometown in Virginia were arrested because she was black and he was white.

They plead guilty to quote, "cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth." They were only released if they swore to move and not come back to Virginia for 25 years. They moved back to Washington D.C. and wrote to Robert F. Kennedy who was the Attorney General at the time. From there, the American Civil Liberties Union took over.

The Loving's story will live on forever. Sadly, Richard Loving died in 1975 in a car accident. Mildred Loving lived to the age of 68 and passed away in 2008. They had three children.

Their story has been told many times throughout history and pop culture. In 2016, a movie simply entitled, Loving, was released. Loving featured Joel Edgerton as Richard Loving and Ruth Negga as Mildred Loving.

I've seen Loving and it is a beautiful movie. It is available to rent on most streaming services. If you already have a subscription to Netflix, it is available to stream.

The Lovings obviously helped to shape the future of this country and all married couples of mixed race, including my brother, Taylor, and sister-in-law, Maya. I can't imagine a world where Maya would not be part of our family.

We've gotten to be pretty close. We celebrate holidays and birthdays together. We've gone to concerts and went on vacation together. We've been through health scares and loved ones passing. And now, I finally have someone who understands how annoying it is to live with my brother! In all seriousness, though, I feel I owe a great deal of gratitude to the Loving family for making it possible for not only my brother to be happy, but also for helping bring our two families together.