My mother and father were married in Detroit, Michigan, in 1968. To spare family members from having to make a choice about attending a wedding between a black man and a white woman, my parents invited only my Uncle Alvin and Aunt Gloria to serve as witnesses. Consequently, this is one of the few photographs taken that day; it has sat near my bedside my entire life.
Only forty-one years ago -- and just a year before my parents were married -- interracial marriages like this one were illegal in seventeen states. (Here's a cool interactive map that shows the history legalized interracial marriage.) On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court ended this embarrassment when it ruled that "Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides within the individual and cannot be infringed on by the State."
Chief Justice Earl Warren's words came in the Court's ruling on the case of Mildred and Richard Loving, a black woman and a white man who had been arrested in Virginia nine years earlier for the crime of falling in love and getting married. Four decades later, we mark this landmark decision by celebrating Loving Day. There were will be celebrations around the country, but I'll spend the day talking to my children and my students about the brave decision my parents made. There were no laws in the state of Michigan prohibiting their marriage in 1968, but their road was still difficult. I thank them for travelling it together.
This is good information!I have to say this landmark decision has made it much easier for me and my wife to love each other being that we are a interracial couple.
We most always take the time to celebrate those who walked before us.
Thanks- Paul B
Posted by: Paul Butler | June 01, 2010 at 08:39 AM