This post is sponsored by Sharp. A big thank you to sponsors that make this little blog possible! All opinions are my own.
June is a very special month in American history. June 12 is Loving Day, the anniversary of the 1967 Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia which struck down anti-miscegenation laws. Anti-miscegenation laws made interracial marriages illegal in 16 states at the time. Mildred and Richard Loving were Virginians that went to Washington D.C. to marry as it was illegal in Virginia. When they returned home they were arrested for breaking the law and had to move to D.C. in order to avoid jail time.
As a child of interracial marriage, this day is particularly meaningful to me. My parents were married only 15 years after this ruling. Growing up, I knew that the composition of my family was different than most, but I was never fully aware of the challenges that interracial couples had in the past. I was educated on the Civil Rights Movement, but I didn’t know about the Lovings until very recently. It’s hard to imagine a world where my parents’ marriage is illegal and considered wrong, but it once existed in our country.
I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry.
-Mildred Loving
…