June 12, 2024
Loving Day
Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.
– James Baldwin, 1924-1987, American writer
Thanks to Francis Wardle, Exchange author and Exchange Leader, for sharing his perspectives on Loving Day:
On June 12, 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court declared state laws against miscegenation (interracial marriage) to be unconstitutional. The case is known as the Loving Case, because the couple’s last name was Loving.
The decision directly confronted two horrible parts of U.S. history. Unlike many other countries in the Americas, such as Brazil, many states in the U.S. forbade interracial marriage – to keep the White race ‘pure.’ This racist view was also promulgated by the powerful eugenics moment of the 1920-40s, supported by all national institutions, which viewed certain people as “unfit”, and advocated they be sterilized against their will to preserve society. Among these “unfit” people were marginalized people, including those of mixed-heritage.
I married a Black woman 10 years after the Loving decision. She courageously challenged her family and community to marry “outside of her race”. She also became a strong supporter of the rights of parents to raise their multiracial children with the full, rich social identity of both of their parents’ heritages.
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