Happy Loving Day!
Or as Mat Johnson calls it in his hilarious novel, Loving Day, “Christmas Day for Mulattoes.” Deets on this must-read book below.
On the official tip, June 12 is the anniversary of the historic Loving v. Virginia U.S. Supreme Court decision that made interracial marriage (meaning a marriage between a white person and someone who wasn’t white) legal in the 16 Southern states that still had laws against swirling.
Loving Day has grown to a global day of recognition, and some consider the fight to legalize interracial marriage a precursor to current laws around LGBTQ+ marriages.
"Loving Day helps those of us who are Mixed to be seen as more than racial or political mongrels, or misbegotten freaks of nature." -- TaRessa Stovall
Mildred and Richard Loving didn’t set out to be activists or public figures when they were wed. They left their home state of Virginia to tie the knot in Washington, D.C., where their nuptials were legal.
They returned home and the following year, were convicted of interracial marriage, given a one-year suspended sentence, and banished from Old Virginny.
In 2007, on the 40th anniversary of the historic U.S. Supreme Court decision, Mildred Loving issued a statement, seen here in The Atlantic:
Not long after our wedding, we were awakened in the middle of the night in our own bedroom by deputy sheriffs and actually arrested for the “crime” of marrying the wrong kind of person.
Our marriage certificate was hanging on the wall above the bed. The state prosecuted Richard and me, and after we were found guilty, the judge declared: “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.” He sentenced us to a year in prison, but offered to suspend the sentence if we left our home in Virginia for 25 years exile.
We left, and got a lawyer. Richard and I had to fight, but still were not fighting for a cause. We were fighting for our love.
A Mixed View of Loving Day
Last year I was honored to share my #BLEWISH experiences of Loving Day with Tani Prell of 18Doors:
What does Loving Day Mean to you?
Loving Day means to me a big shift in the way that interracial couples were viewed in the United States. I’m not from the south, I’m from the north, but until I was 12 years old, my parent’s marriage would have been illegal in 16 states. I knew that, so I felt racially and politically illegitimate—against the law, not quite kosher.
Loving Day for me celebrates the triumph of love and activism over racism. Loving Day helps those of us who are Mixed to be seen as more than racial or political mongrels, or misbegotten freaks of nature.
The Supreme Court action was one of the first steps in helping to shift the lens through which our parents were viewed, and subsequently through which we were viewed, to give us a form of legitimacy that we hadn’t had before. The message it sent is that there are people of different races, who choose to love and build families together and we’re going to stop saying that that’s against the law. Read on...
Before I Let Go …
Get YOUR copy of LOVING DAY here