LOVING DAY.

It’s Loving Day! ⠀
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#LovingDay is named for the monumental case, Loving v. Virginia, and the interracial couple at its center, Richard and Mildred Loving. The 1967 Supreme Court decision struck down 16 state bans on interracial marriage as unconstitutional.⠀
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In 1958, the Lovings traveled to Washington, D.C. to get married and returned home to Caroline County, Virginia. One night shortly after, the couple woke to find the police in their bedroom. The Lovings were taken to jail for the crime of being married and offered a choice: either continue to serve jail time or leave Virginia for 25 years. The couple chose the latter and left the state for Washington, DC. ⠀
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Life was both difficult and unpleasant for the Lovings in DC. While their marriage was legal, the discrimination they faced was still heavy. In desperation, Mildred sent a letter to Robert F. Kennedy, Attorney General of the United States, and he directed her to the ACLU. A lawyer took their case, which eventually made its way to the Supreme Court where it was unanimously overturned on June 12, 1967.⠀
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1967. Thats 53 years ago. This was my grandparents’ generation fighting for the right to marry who they choose. This was my parents’ generation experiencing school integration first hand. We are not so far removed from a way of life that seems absolutely barbaric today. ⠀
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I hope in 53 years my grandkids are just as incredulous asking their parents why on Earth our generation had to fight so hard for something that seems so obviously right. I hope the fair, just, and kind world I have hope for, the one I can see in fleeting moments during this time of revolution is their normal. But Lord, we have a lot of work to do now to make that possible. ⠀
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Today I am thankful for the Lovings. I am thankful that their unwavering love spurred them into undeniable action that made families like ours possible, that made a love like ours and children like ours legitimate in the eyes of the law. How absolutely absurd that lawmakers ever felt they had the power to declare otherwise. I hope to have their courage in our modern day fight for what is so absurdly and obviously right. ⠀