In our not-so-distant past, people were often restricted from marrying those they loved if they were of a different race — a reality once accepted as normal in American society. While love forms the foundation of every family, legal protection for this basic human connection was being denied to mixed-race couples within your kid’s grandparents’ lifetime (and to same-gender couples even more recently).
This is why we celebrate Loving Day on June 12, fittingly named after Richard and Mildred Loving, a courageous interracial couple who fought all the way to the Supreme Court in 1967 for their right to be married. Their landmark Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia, struck down the unfair laws prohibiting interracial marriage across the United States.
The Lovings’ victory changed the social fabric of America forever, making it possible for people of different races to legally marry in all 50 states and paving the way for other important changes in marriage equality that continue to this day.
How the Lovings won their fight for equality
In June 1958, Richard Loving, a white man, married his wife Mildred, a Black woman, in Washington D.C. Unlike their home state of Virginia, local D.C. laws allowed an interracial couple to be together. They went back home to Virginia after exchanging vows, but a few weeks after their wedding, a sheriff stormed into the couple’s bedroom and arrested them for their “crime” of being married. Mildred, who was pregnant at the time, had to spend several nights in jail. Sadly, the couple was forced to leave Virginia in order to stay together. Years later, when they wanted to move their family back to Virginia, interracial relationships were still against the law there — as well as in 16 other states.
The Lovings went to court for their right to live together as a family. Richard famously told the couple’s lawyer, “Tell the court I love my wife, and it is just unfair that I can’t live with her in Virginia.”
The case went all the way to the highest court in the land — the Supreme Court. In June 1967, the Supreme Court decided in favor of the Lovings, finally ending all bans on interracial marriages across the country, and paving the way for multiracial families today.
How can you celebrate Loving Day?
Everyone is welcome to celebrate and support Loving Day, but it is especially significant for mixed, and multi-race, and transracially adoptive families. Many people find community online by sharing their family photos and stories under the #LovingDay hashtag.
A few ways to commemorate this special day include —
Get together with loved ones. Invite your family and friends over for great food and a celebration of love!
Attend a celebration or festival. Loving Day is typically acknowledged with joyful festivals and city-wide celebrations. New York City hosts a flagship celebration each year, and many communities across the country also host parties and gatherings. Find one near you at LovingDay.org, or consider hosting your own!
Watch a film inspired by the holiday. There are several movies that pay tribute to the Lovings, such as Loving (2016) and Mr. and Mrs. Loving (1996), as well as documentaries such as The Loving Story. A movie night with one of these films (recommended for teens and adults) is a great way to learn about and understand the struggles that went into securing rights for couples of all races and backgrounds.
Read books celebrating multiracial families. If you have younger kids, you may want to check out some of these books that explore the experiences of mixed-race families in a kid-friendly way.
