The Right to Marry Loving v.Virginia Article Eight Americans' attitudes toward black-white relationships have started to thaw over the years. But it's been a long, slow road. As recently as 1958, there where laws prohibiting interracial marriages that were originated in 1691 that still held in effect. The Loving v. Virgina case all started when Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter were married on June 2, 1958. Weeks later, snuggled in the warm comfort of their bed, a shattering sound jolted the young Virginia couple from their sleep in the still hours of the morning. From behind flashlights stinging their eyes, a man's voice demanded an answer: "Who is this woman you're sleeping with?" "I'm his wife," said Mrs. Loving. The newlyweds' had a Washington D.C. marriage license which was displayed on their wall, but the Caroline County sheriff who had kicked in their front door stood unmoved. Mr. and Mrs.
English: United States Supreme Court building in W...
English: Panorama of the west facade of at dusk in...
American Civil Liberties UnionLoving were immediately arrested; Mildred spent the following three long days in jail. Their crime? Society had classified Richard as "white," and the state of Virginia classified Mildred, of African and Native American descent, as "colored." The Lovings' marriage violated s law that originated in 1691, when the House of Burgesses wanted to lessen the number of interracial children whose mothers were white. The law stated that "if any white person intermarry with a colored person, they shall be guilty of a felony." Judge Leon Bazile sentenced the Lovings to one year in jail, suspended on the condition that Richard and Mildred leave the state, not to return for twenty-five years. "Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, and red, and he placed them on separate continents," proclaimed Bazile. "And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages (The Loving Story...