Loving Day
What a sweet editorial in the Oregonian today, highlighting the 40th anniversary of the Loving v. Virginia US Supreme Court case prohibiting bans on interracial marriage. That decision is relatively short and easy to read; I recommend doing so. It begins:
“This case presents a constitutional question never addressed by this Court: whether a statutory scheme adopted by the State of Virginia to prevent marriages between persons solely on the basis of racial classifications violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. For reasons which seem to us to reflect the central meaning of those constitutional commands, we conclude that these statutes cannot stand consistently with the Fourteenth Amendment.”
For those who haven’t just concluded their Government course in high school (good work, Ali, Mr. Marchese, and all other Portland Public Schools juniors and social studies teachers!), Section 1 of the 14th Amendment concludes:
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
A non-profit organization, Loving Day, which celebrates the cause and advocates for remembrance events on or around June 12, gives further information on its page about the case:
“At the time of the Loving decision, sixteen states from Delaware to Texas had laws banning interracial couples. Loving v. Virginia (1967) made it illegal for these states to enforce those laws. This ended a long era of laws that were enforced in forty-two states over the course of American history. These laws did not only apply to black people and white people; many states also restricted relationships with Asians, Native Americans, Indians, Hispanics, and other ethnic groups.”
Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving were married on June 2, 1958. They had been friends for seven years, and married when Mildred was 18. Their marriage license states Mildred’s race as “Indian”, as she is part Native American as well as part African American. Their marriage endured the stresses they were subjected to. Richard was killed when their car was hit by a drunk driver on June 29, 1979. Mildred is still alive, and wrote this speech (pdf) she delivered at 40th anniversary celebrations on June 12, 2007. She concludes with these fine words:
“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.”
How appropriate that this weekend is the 32nd celebration of Portland Pride. Their site notes the event was originally scheduled in June to commemorate the Stonewall Riots in New York.
Lots of interesting links in the above, for your pre-surfed reading pleasure and information this cloudy Saturday. Thanks to the O for starting it off.