National Loving Day
It’s often very difficult to truly appreciate what we have and how much was sacrificed in order to enjoy those gifts. Today is a good reminder of that. We now celebrate it as National Loving Day because of one very brave couple.
In early 1900s, the United States passed a number of anti-miscegenation laws in order to preserve racial purity. These were laws that criminalized interracial marriage and were primarily used to target Black Americans, though other racial groups (including Asian Americans) felt the impact as well. However, the only “race” that the government wanted to keep pure was the white race: laws did not prevent people of color from marrying each other. The number of these Jim Crow-era laws applicable to Asians doubled from 1910 to 1950. Unlike many other forms of legal segregation, these laws targeted relationships desired by both groups, including whites. They have arguably spanned the longest time frame of any modern form of statutory racial discrimination.
Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court case that declared anti-miscegenation laws, or bans on interracial marriages, unconstitutional began when Virginia police raided the Lovings home in the early morning hours of July 11, 1958. Despite the fact that the couple had their marriage certificate hanging on the bedroom wall, the state charged them with a felony punishable with a prison sentence of up to five years. The couple pled guilty and were forced to leave their home state. They appealed five years later only because they wanted to visit their families together. The Supreme Court made a unanimous decision for the Lovings in 1967—nine years after the couple was arrested in their own home—but anti-miscegenation laws remained on the books until 2000, over forty years later. Of course, even though they won, the Lovings still had to deal with the day-to-day challenges of living in an area that deeply resented their actions. Little did they know, but their act of courage would open doors for other marginalized groups nearly fifty years later. In fact, if it wasn’t for the Lovings, I would be jailed for my marriage to my wife Faina today.
Remember, justice isn’t arrived at because people want to uphold the status quo or because social order is prioritized over people. Sometimes, it takes troublemakers to bring about change. But always, without a doubt, it requires a generous dose of courage, empathy, and love. Here’s to National Loving Day, a reminder that it is always worth fighting for the people we love.
