Mixed Race Studies

Setting the Record Straight On The Case of Loving V. Virginia

Medium
2020-10-25

Arica L. Coleman, Ph.D.

Mildred and Richard Loving. Courtesy of Getty Image.

The recent death of Bernard Cohen, one of the lawyers who represented the plaintiffs Richard and Mildred Loving in the landmark Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, which overturned proscriptions against interracial marriage in the United States in 1967, has once again thrust the case back into the headlines. In 1958, Richard Loving a “white” man, and Mildred Jeter a “colored” woman, violated several Virginia codes when they married in the District of Columbia, where interracial marriage was legal, and afterward returned to their home in Caroline Country, Virginia, where interracial marriage was illegal, to live as husband and wife. The couple was taken to jail, tried for the crime of being married, and then banished from Virginia for 25 years.

Fittingly, the 86 year old Cohen who this month of Parkinson’s Disease has been eulogized for cementing his place in American legal history at the young age of thirty-three when he and his co-counsel Philip Hirschkop rocked the Supreme Court with a two-pronged legal argument against state-imposed anti- interracial marriage laws which included a poignant direct quote from Richard Loving who told the attorneys, “Tell the court I love my life, and it is just unfair that I cannot live with her in Virginia.” The Court unanimously agreed.

Yet, in recounting the events which led up to the couple’s triumphant victory of love over hate, the storyline in these accounts follows the popular narrative of the Loving story. But there is more to this case than many have supposed. This article highlights a few unknown facts and debunks some myths about this historic case…

Read the entire article here.

What the #ThankYouLovings campaign gets wrong about interracial couples and the future of America

Fusion
2016-12-09

Tahirah Hairston

FOCUS FEATURES

Last month, Loving, a biopic about Mildred and Richard Loving—the couple at the center of the Supreme Court’s Loving v. Virginia decision which struck down bans on interracial marriage in 1967—was released nationwide. June 12th, 2017 will be the 50th anniversary of the historic trial.

As a way to celebrate the Lovings—and promote the movie—the Loving Twitter account began encouraging people to use the hashtag #ThankYouLovings. The hashtag has been shared across social media, accompanied by photos of interracial couples—everything from candid selfies to intimate wedding photos.

It’s important, beautiful, and in a sense almost surreal to see how much America has progressed—and how much it has failed—in one photo and one film. On one hand, there is no rule on who we can or can’t love. People of all races and, thanks to last year’s Supreme Court ruling, genders, can now marry. On the other hand, we’re no closer to ending systematic racism, sexism or homophobia, with the 2016 election being our most up-to-date example…

Read the entire article here.

EXCLUSIVE: Ruth Negga on How Feeling Alien Inspired Her Oscar-Worthy Performance and the Power of ‘Loving’

Entertainment Tonight
2016-11-06

John Boone

Photo: Getty Images

Ruth Negga may go from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to the Academy Awards, which is no easy feat even for a Marvel superhero. The 34-year-old actress may be most recognizable for her comic book fare — she also appeared in Warcraft: The Beginning and currently stars on AMC’s Preacher — but that very well may change because of Loving, a small, quiet film centered on the landmark court case that legalized interracial marriage. The film isn’t actually about the case, though, it’s about the Lovings behind Loving v. Virginia. What does it mean to her to get Oscar buzz for this movie?

“That people will know who Mildred and Richard Loving were,” she explained. “It surprised me that more people don’t know about them, because I think they’re a couple that America should be extraordinarily proud of. The world should be proud of.”…

Read the entire article here.

Mark Loving on the film ‘Loving’ and a Supreme Court case that changed the nation

Eastern Mennonite University
Harrisonburg, Virginia
2016-11-03

Lauren Jefferson, Editor-in-Chief

Mark Loving, a sophomore at Eastern Mennonite University, shows a photo of his great-grandparents, Mildred and Richard Loving. In 1967, the couple won a Supreme Court case that eventually led to freedom for mixed-race couples to marry and live together in Virginia. Their story is featured in “Loving,” a film opening Nov. 4. (Photos by Londen Wheeler Photography; inset photo, Bettman/Getty)

In his native Caroline County, Virginia, Mark Loving II’s family name is well known. Beyond generations of rootedness, there is both a plaque at the courthouse and a historical marker about his family history. One reason why Mark came to Eastern Mennonite University: some anonymity in a rural landscape not dissimilar to home.

But being one of a crowd is shortly coming to an end for this sophomore kinesiology major who plays basketball and has plans to become a physical therapist. On Friday, Nov. 4, a movie will be released, the title of which is one word: his surname.

“I don’t think too many people know,” he said, “but that’s starting to change. The word has got out there.”…

Read the entire article here.

What Loving Can Show Us About Multiracial Parenting

TIME
2016-10-31

Lise Ragbir, Public Voices Fellow and Director of the Warfield Center Gallery
University of Texas, Austin

Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton in Loving. (Focus Features)

‘Let’s stop assuming all families are one color’

America has come a long way since Mildred and Richard Loving took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967 to fight and win the right for a black woman to marry a white man. But have we come far enough?

Now the subject of a major motion picture debuting Nov. 4, Loving, that interracial couple went on to have three children. Given their then-unconventional family, I wonder what they faced when they went out in public as a family. As a black spouse in an interracial union today, I can tell you. My daughter was 6-months-old the first time I got the question: “Is that your baby?”…

Read the entire article here.

The African American Museum chooses ‘Loving’ for its first film screening

The Washington Post
2016-10-25

Helena Andrews-Dyer

Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga, stars of “Loving,” attend the premiere of the film on Thursday in Beverly Hills. (Chris Pizzello/Invision via Associated Press)

Just one month after opening its doors, the National Museum of African American History and Culture is establishing itself as a permanent stop on the Washington social circuit. There have been cocktail parties, galas, private dinners and now one of D.C.’s favorite after-work pastimes — the movie screening.

But not just any movie screening. On Monday, the museum hosted a sneak peek of “Loving” in the 350-seat Oprah Winfrey Theater–one of many for the new institution. The choice wasn’t coincidental, said Rhea L. Combs, the museum’s photography and film curator and head of its Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts.

“Showing this film at the museum is important because the story is symbolic of the mission of the museum,” Combs said. “It demonstrates the link between people of all backgrounds and culture.”

“Loving” tells the true story of Mildred and Richard Loving, an interracial couple from Virginia who fought for nearly a decade to have their marriage recognized as legal. Their historic case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which eventually struck down laws against interracial marriage.

Almost 50 years later the movie’s stars, Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton, walked the red carpet at the museum that houses artifacts from the couple they play on screen. Everyone involved bowed to the movie’s role as An Important Film…

Read the entire article here.