Mildred and Richard Loving

Mildred Delores Loving (July 22, 1939 – May 2, 2008) and her husband Richard Perry Loving (October 29, 1933 – June 29, 1975) were plaintiffs in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia (1967). Their life and marriage has been the subject of several songs and three movies, including the 2016 film Loving.

Mildred and Richard Loving
BornMildred
Mildred Delores Jeter
(1939-07-22)July 22, 1939
Central Point, Virginia, U.S.
Richard
Richard Perry Loving
(1933-10-29)October 29, 1933
Central Point, Virginia, U.S.
DiedMildred
May 2, 2008(2008-05-02) (aged 68)
Milford, Virginia, U.S.
Richard
June 29, 1975(1975-06-29) (aged 41)
Caroline County, Virginia, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationRichard
Construction worker
Known forPlaintiff in Loving v. Virginia (1967)
Children3

The Lovings were an interracial married couple who were criminally charged under a Virginia statute banning such marriages. With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), they filed suit to overturn the law. In 1967, the Supreme Court ruled in their favor, striking down the Virginia statute and all state anti-miscegenation laws as unconstitutional violations of the Fourteenth Amendment.[1] Beginning in 2013, the case was cited as precedent in U.S. federal court decisions holding restrictions on same-sex marriage in the United States unconstitutional, including in the 2015 Supreme Court decision Obergefell v. Hodges.[2]

Early life and marriage

Mildred Jeter was the daughter of Musial (Byrd) Jeter and Theoliver Jeter.[3] She was born and raised in the town of Central Point in Caroline County, Virginia. She was known as a quiet and humble woman.[4] Mildred identified herself as Indian-Rappahannock,[5] but was also reported as being of Cherokee, Portuguese, and African American ancestry.[6][7] During the trial, it seemed clear that she identified herself as black, especially as far as her lawyer was concerned. However, upon her arrest, the police report identifies her as "Indian". She said in a 2004 interview, "I have no black ancestry. I am Indian-Rappahannock." A possible contributing factor is that it was seen at the time of her arrest as advantageous to be "anything but black". There was an ingrained history in the state of the denial of African ancestry.[5] Additionally, the frequent racial mixing in their community could have contributed to this fluid racial identity.[8]

Richard Loving was the son of Lola (Allen) Loving and Twillie Loving. He was also born and raised in Central Point, where he was a construction worker.[9] He was white; his grandfather, T. P. Farmer, fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War,[10] and his ancestor Lewis Loving was marked in the 1830 census as owning seven slaves.

Caroline County adhered to strict Jim Crow segregation laws, but Central Point had been a visible mixed-race community since the 19th century.[8] Richard's father worked for one of the wealthiest black men in the county for 25 years. Richard's closest companions were black, including those he drag-raced with and Mildred's older brothers. "There's just a few people that live in this community," Richard said. "A few white and a few colored. And as I grew up, and as they grew up, we all helped one another. It was all, as I say, mixed together to start with and just kept goin' that way."[11]

The couple met when Mildred was 11 and Richard was 17. He was a family friend, and years later they began dating. When Mildred was 18, she became pregnant, and Richard moved into the Jeter household. They decided to marry in June 1958, and traveled to Washington, D.C. to do so. At the time, interracial marriage was banned in Virginia by the Racial Integrity Act of 1924. Mildred later stated that when they married, she did not realize their marriage was illegal in Virginia, but she later believed her husband had known it.[12]

After their marriage, the Lovings' returned home to Central Point. They were arrested at night by the county sheriff, who had received an anonymous tip,[13] and charged with "cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth." They pled guilty and were convicted by the Caroline County Circuit Court on January 6, 1959. They were sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for 25 years on the condition that they leave the state. They moved to the District of Columbia.

In 1964,[14] frustrated by their inability to travel together to visit their families in Virginia, and by social isolation and financial difficulties in Washington, they filed suit to vacate the judgment against them and allow them to return home.

Supreme Court case
Main article: Loving v. Virginia

In 1964,[14] Mildred Loving wrote in protest to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy referred her to the American Civil Liberties Union.[13]

The ACLU filed a motion on the Lovings' behalf to vacate the judgment and set aside the sentence, on the grounds that the statutes violated the Fourteenth Amendment. This began a series of lawsuits which ultimately reached the United States Supreme Court. On October 28, 1964, when their motion still had not been decided, the Lovings began a class action suit in United States district court. On January 22, 1965, the district court allowed the Lovings to present their constitutional claims to the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Virginia Supreme Court Justice Harry L. Carrico (later Chief Justice) wrote the court's opinion upholding the constitutionality of the anti-miscegenation statutes and affirmed the criminal convictions.

The Lovings and ACLU appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Lovings did not attend the oral arguments in Washington, but their lawyer, Bernard S. Cohen, conveyed a message from Richard Loving to the court: "[T]ell the Court I love my wife, and it is just unfair that I can't live with her in Virginia."[15] The case, Loving v. Virginia, was decided unanimously in the Lovings' favor on June 12, 1967. The Court overturned their convictions, dismissing Virginia's argument that the law was not discriminatory because it applied equally to and provided identical penalties for both white and black persons. The Supreme Court ruled that the anti-miscegenation statute violated both the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Lovings returned to Virginia after the Supreme Court decision.

Later life and writing

The Lovings had three children: Donald, Peggy, and Sidney Loving. After the Supreme Court case was resolved in 1967, the couple moved back to Central Point, where Richard built them a house.

Mildred said she considered her marriage and the court decision to be God's work. She supported everyone's right to marry whomever he or she wished.[16] In 1965, while the case was pending, she told the Washington Evening Star, "We loved each other and got married. We are not marrying the state. The law should allow a person to marry anyone he wants."[12] On June 12, 2007, Mildred issued a statement on the 40th anniversary of the Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court decision.[17]

Her statement concluded:

My generation was bitterly divided over something that should have been so clear and right. The majority believed that what the judge said, that it was God's plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love. But I have lived long enough now to see big changes. The older generation's fears and prejudices have given way, and today's young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry.

Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don't think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the "wrong kind of person" for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people's religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people's civil rights.

I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard's and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That's what Loving, and loving, are all about.

Deaths

On June 29, 1975, a drunk driver struck the Lovings's car in Caroline County, Virginia.[18] Richard was killed in the accident, at age 41; Mildred lost her right eye.

Mildred died of pneumonia on May 2, 2008, in Milford, Virginia, at age 68. Her daughter, Peggy Fortune, said, "I want [people] to remember her as being strong and brave, yet humble—and believ[ing] in love."[12] The final sentence in Mildred Loving's obituary in the New York Times notes of her statement to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia[19]: "A modest homemaker, Loving never thought she had done anything extraordinary. 'It wasn't my doing,' Loving told the Associated Press in a rare interview [in 2007]. 'It was God's work.'"[20]

Legacy
  • Mr. & Mrs. Loving (1996), a film starring Lela Rochon, Timothy Hutton and Ruby Dee, written and directed by Richard Friedenberg.[21] It aired on the Showtime network. According to Loving, "Not much of it was very true. The only part of it right was I had three children."[22]
  • Phyl Newbeck (2004). Virginia Hasn't Always Been for Lovers. ISBN 0-8093-2528-4.
  • Nanci Griffith's country-folk song "The Loving Kind", the opening cut of her new The Loving Kind album, hit the charts in June 2009.
  • June 12 has become known as Loving Day in the United States, an unofficial holiday celebrating interracial marriages.
  • The Loving Story (2011), an HBO-produced documentary which was screened at many film festivals, including Silverdocs Documentary Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, and Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. The film includes rare interviews, photographs and film shot during the time. Variety called the film "Fascinating."
  • Loving (2016), a film by Jeff Nichols inspired by The Loving Story
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References
  1. Loving v. Virginia 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
  2. Obergefell v. Hodges, No. 14-556, 576 U.S. ___ (2015)
  3. "Mildred Loving obituary". Archived from the original on October 27, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  4. Rathbone, Mark (April 2009). "Mildred Loving". General OneFile: 32+.
  5. "What You Didn't Know About Loving v. Virginia". Time. Archived from the original on February 15, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  6. Lawing, Charles B. "Loving v. Virginia and the Hegemony of 'Race'" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  7. Walker, Dionne (June 10, 2007). "Pioneer of interracial marriage looks back". USA Today. Associated Press. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  8. Staples, Brent (May 14, 2008). "Loving v. Virginia and the Secret History of Race". Opinion. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  9. Lavender, Abraham (2014). "Loving, Richard (1933–1975), and Mildred Loving (1939–2008)". In Chapman, Roger; Ciment, James (eds.). Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices (2nd ed.).
  10. "The White and Black Worlds of 'Loving v. Virginia'". Time. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  11. "The Loving Couple". The Attic. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  12. "Matriarch of racially mixed marriage dies". MSNBC. May 5, 2008.
  13. Martin, Douglas (May 6, 2008). "Mildred Loving, Who Battled Ban on Mixed-Race Marriage, Dies at 68". The New York Times.
  14. "Mildred Loving, Key Figure in Civil Rights Era, Dies". PBS News Hour. May 6, 2008.
  15. Sheppard, Kate (February 13, 2012). "'The Loving Story': How an Interracial Couple Changed a Nation". Mother Jones. Also quoted in "Loving v. Virginia (1967)". Encyclopedia Virginia.
  16. Walker, Dionne (June 9, 2007). "40 years of interracial marriage: Mildred Loving reflects on breaking the color barrier". The Standard-Times. Associated Press. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  17. "Freedom To Marry" (PDF). Retrieved May 6, 2008.
  18. "Richard P. Loving; In Land Mark Suit; Figure in High Court Ruling on Miscegenation Dies". The New York Times. July 1, 1975.
  19. Martin, Douglas (May 6, 2008). "Mildred Loving, Who Battled Ban on Mixed-Race Marriage, Dies at 68". The New York Times. Retrieved May 7, 2008. Mildred Loving, a black woman whose anger over being banished from Virginia for marrying a white man led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling overturning state miscegenation laws, died on May 2 at her home in Central Point, Va. She was 68.
  20. Sullivan, Patricia (May 6, 2008). "Quiet Va. Wife Ended Interracial Marriage Ban". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved May 10, 2008.
  21. "Mr. & Mrs. Loving". IMDb.
  22. Walker, Dionne (June 10, 2007). "Pioneer of interracial marriage looks back". USA Today. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
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