Richard and Mildred

If these two made it into any of my high school history lessons, I don't remember it.

Richard and Mildred Loving, Virginia residents, married in DC in the summer of 1958. Richard was white, and Mildred was African American and Native American.

After returning to Virginia, they were arrested in their home in the middle of the night and charged with "cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth" under Virginia's anti-interracial marriage law.

They served one year in prison and were given a 25-year suspension. They were told to leave Virginia....they could return to visit family, but not together. Frustrated by these restrictions and by financial difficulties they were experiencing in DC, Mildred decided to write a letter of protest to the US Attorney General - Bobby Kennedy. Kennedy referred her to the ACLU, and the case eventually made it all the way to the Supreme Court.

In 1967, the Supreme Court overturned their conviction, ruling that the anti-interracial marriage law violated the 14th Amendment (due process and equal protection).

In an interview with the Washington Evening Star in 1965, Mildred said, "We loved each other and got married. We are not marrying the state. The law should allow a person to marry anyone he wants."

And then on 6/12/2007 - the 40th anniversary of that Supreme Court decision, Mildred issued a statement that concluded with the following:

"My generation was bitterly divided over something that should have been so clear and right. The majority believed that what the judge said [this happened earlier - a judge ruled that God had created different races of people because He intended for these races to remain separated], that it was God's plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love. But I have lived long enough now to see big changes. The older generation's fears and prejudices have given way, and today's young people realize that if someone loves someone, they have a right to marry.

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."


I am grateful to Richard (passed away in 1975) and Mildred (passed away in 2008)......for their tenacity, their character, their strength, their determination, their fearlessness.......and their love.

Amy - you are my Richard. You are my Mildred. And I love you.