<i>— I didn’t realize how bad it was
until we got married...</i> — 50 years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor
of Richard and Mildred Loving, granting them, and anyone, the right
to marry a spouse of a different race. It was a historic moment for civil rights in America, but also a very personal one. We asked couples to mark the anniversary by explaining what the Loving decision
means to them and their families. — These were simple, country people
who were not activists, they were not civil rights people— they were in love. — You know, we’re talking about
a time when 40 states in America would regard us as criminals. That’s no longer the case. <i>— There's actually one simple issue,</i> <i>and the issue is,</i> <i>may a state proscribe a marriage between two
adult consenting individuals because of their race?</i> — My parents were completely cool with it. They met Errol quite early on. I think, a year after—not even a year after we met… — Well, I had seen “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” so of course it was a concern. — We were all slightly, naively, I think, in my family, not fully tuned-in to the racial divide in America. — Vaughn has never been to my parents’ home. And he’s not welcome there. For a little while, I was read the riot act, not just by my parents, my parents
didn’t know how to deal with it. But my brothers were pretty upset, and… we’re still finding our way. My parents met Vaughn in May of last year. They came to New York. — One time, Chris came to me
as we were at a family event and, even though he’s coming from a very liberal,
very progressive, very anti-racist family, when they see me, they see a black woman, and that’s always in the interactions
that I have with his family. — I notice color, I’m not colorblind. It’s not that white folks aren’t white folks, and black folks aren’t black folks, but this particular white folk is
my soul mate and my best friend. — There’s never a time when we are in public when I am not aware that we are an interracial couple. When we walk into a room, people take notice. Very early on, black women made it
absolutely clear that this was not cool. — I had asked Janet to marry me on several occasions. And she refused. And she refused, because I was serving in the Senate, and she was afraid that
our being married would impede or, somewhere, somehow, impair my reelection. — If they had been racist, and held that against him, I would never have forgiven myself. Because I could go on loving him
without a marriage certificate. <i>— Now, the state is ignoring a very important point,</i> <i>and that is the right of Richard and Mildred Loving</i> <i>to wake up in the morning, or to go to sleep at night,</i> <i>knowing that the sheriff will not
be knocking on their door</i> <i>or shining a light in their face
in the privacy of their bedroom.</i> — Boy, we’re really getting personal here. Folks in her family praying that we don't
get pregnant, and that's happening. That was told to Gail, and I can't... I can't fathom that. — I think that any preconceptions
that interracial marriages, for some eugenic reason, don’t work, just are shattered as soon as you see a healthy child. You can’t look at those boys playing— they’re healthy, they’re loud,
their skinned knees, they’re perfect. — For me, my concern was that they would be prey to certain social definitions of who they’re supposed to be. I wanted their cultural horizons and
their formation of their own identities to be as open as possible. — My daughter, uh, once referred to herself
as orange when she was little. That was her term. So we did that, yeah. — She once drew a picture of herself that
was literally half-white and half-black. That was a little spooky. <i>— No one can articulate it better than
Richard Loving when he said to me,</i> <i>“Mr. Cohen, tell the court I love my wife,”</i> <i>“and it is just unfair that I can't live with her in Virginia.”</i> — I’m the same age as Emmett Till. So I was 14 when I realized what white people could do to black people
in this country and get away with it. So when this white boy at Butler University
asked me to date him, I said, “No, I don't date white boys.” However, if I had continued with that attitude, I would’ve missed Bill. — Being married to John keeps me accountable. Like, I can never do “they.” I can’t do “they,” “they are,” “they”— because I’m waking up to this guy. My husband. — Intermarriage is intensifying throughout the country. So, that demographic fact gives us
a certain kind of legitimacy. Not only us, but our children. So, we actually feel that we’ve been pioneers. <i>— I think that marrying who you want to</i> <i>is a right that no man should have anything to do with.</i> <i>It’s a God-given right, I think.</i>
In case you're curious, Richard Loving passed away in 1975. He was killed by a drunk driver. Mildred Loving passed way in 2008 after a battle with pneumonia.
They certainly didn't have easy lives. But they are survived by their children, grand children and great grand children.
The Lovings and the supreme court decision are celebrated and remembered on "Loving Day", June 12th.
"Being married to John keeps me accountable. Like I can never do 'they', [...] because I'm waking up to this guy, my husband."
This is beautiful, and exactly what people need to understand about why racism is so foolish. There are always people out there who will shatter your conception of what a [insert race] person is.
John, you dog!
Canadian:
I'm 32 and caucasian, I only learned about the social taboo of interracial couples a few years ago. I get that it's racism, plain and simple, but how bad interracial couples are actually treated in some places is beyond my comprehension. And I didn't grow up in multi-ethnic areas, I grew up in extremely white areas, from kindergarten to high school, I can count on one hand the number of non-whites I ever went to school with. And yet, I didn't grow up racist, i didn't grow up aware of a taboo...I grew up knowing there are people who look different than me, but they are the same as me.
Just my personal experience, maybe some people in different areas of Canada have had different experiences, but I don't get why race is a thing when it comes to loving someone. Who the fuck is anyone to decide who you're going to love? (also black chicks are hot...and asians....and latinas)
The fact that we're barely 50 years removed from the Civil Right's Movement is mind blowing to me
Anyone interested in other stuff related to this, the New York Times published a really interesting piece looking at interracial couples 50 years later here
White dude here engaged to a beautiful Fijian woman. I'd smack the taste out of anyone who told me I couldn't marry this wonderful person.
Getting married to my beautiful bi-racial fiance this Saturday!
I am in an interracial relationship now. My girlfriend is Black and I am White. It's hard. People stare so much. A guy spit at/on me. Lots of times cars with one guy or multiple guys will give me burning looks of anger. I can just tell they hate me/us. Not gonna lie, it can be scary. It's just so unnecessarily hard.
The other day my girlfriend and I were walking down the street from a restaurant and some guy shouted out the window "Good for you two! Keep it up!" While it was nice of him I can't help but dream of a day when we aren't noticed. I don't want to be a statement or seen as "woke". I just want to be with my girlfriend, happy and safe. I can rant on and on about this but really that's all I want. I just want us to be invisible, to be normal, to not have to worry.