When you think of American heroes like George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony, and FDR, they had a concern, they organized, and they achieved a goal. This heroic couple was the exact opposite.
In 1953, Richard Loving married Mildred Jeter. This would have been fine had Loving not been white and Jeter not been black.
It may be hard to believe, but at one point in our nation’s history, it was illegal to marry someone outside of your race.
After being fed up with living in Washington D.C., away from their families in Virginia, the couple filed an appeal with the Virginia State Courts to overturn the Virginia Racial Integrity Act of 1924. The case would make it all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States and would eventually be repealed in 1967 because it violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
According to the New York Times, the Lovings explained that they didn’t file the suit with the intent of bringing about social change.
“We are not doing it just because somebody had to do it and we wanted to be the ones. We are doing it for us.” said Richard Loving.
When someone has the courage to stand up for what’s right, many people reap the benefits. Whether it was for selfish reasons or otherwise, the Loving’s victory became the face of a change that would help change our nation’s view of racism and discrimination; and for that, we owe them a debt of thanks.