Thursday, June 12, 2008

Loving Day, 2008

In June, I think about Flag Day and Gay Pride Day as the minor holidays generally ignored by the majority of Americans.

June 12th is Loving Day.

This sounds like a day to celebrate love, lovers, couples, partnership, etc. And it is! But Loving Day is a day to celebrate the love and marriage of one particular couple: Richard and Mildred Loving.

Richard and Mildred met when they were children and began dating young, they got pregnant young, they got married young. After their marriage in 1958, they returned to their hometown of Richmond, Virginia, and were arrested for breaking Virginia's anti-miscegenation laws.

The anti-miscegenation laws made it illegal to marry someone of a different race. You see, Mildred was black and Richard was white, and in 1958 you just weren't supposed to marry outside of your race.

The legal wrangling continued until June 12, 1967, when the United States Supreme Court declared anti-miscegenation laws to be unconstitutional.

So, today is the 41st anniverary of Loving Day.

All you need is love!

The wikipedia entry for Loving Day.

I've written about interracial marriage, before, and the notion that families look different from each other, inside and out.

Dick Mac Recommends:

Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles


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