Black History Month
Loving v. Virginia
February 6, 2017
1967 was the year that the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Mildred Jeter (17), who was black and Richard Loving (23) a white construction worker had to overcome Virginia’s miscegenation law that restricted marriage between an African-American and a white person. The couple got married in the District of Columbia. While returning back to Virginia, they were found guilty of the law and were sentenced to a year in jail. In an unanimous decision, the Court found no legitimate purpose “independent of invidious racial discrimination”.
