Harper Chambers

World Cultures A1
Loving vs Virginia
The Lord placed all races, white, black, yellow, and red, on separate continents, and for
reasons yet unknown, but should that stop them from uniting together in marriage? That was the
question for Mildred and Richard Loving. Mildred was an African American woman who loved
Richard Loving, a white man. They got married in the District of Columbia, but soon moved to
Caroline County in Virginia to live their lives quietly and peacefully in a lovely home.
Just after their wedding, Mildred and Richard were called to court on the October Term of
1958 in Caroline County, Virginia. Being judged on mixed-racial marriage, Mildred and Richard
pleaded guilty on January 6, 1959, and sentenced to one year in jail for their interracial marriage.
Wanting the couple out of Caroline County the judge gave the Lovings a second choice to leave.
Choosing to evacuate from Caroline County, Mildred and Richard moved to the District of
Columbia, the location they were married. Fourteen years later on November 6, 1963, the Lovings
received word that they were allowed to move back to Caroline County, due to the fact that the
courts decision was unconstitutional based on the Fourteenth Amendment, nor shall any state
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person
within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. This Fourteenth Amendment gave Mildred
and Richard the right to marry, live in Caroline County, along with the government providing
equivalent protection to each.
But the Lovings journey was not over. Virginias state law prohibited interracial marriage,
and due to the Tenth Amendment, The powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the
people. Since marriage rights were the responsibility of the state the court case was taken under
extreme scrutiny.
After the court case was thoroughly reviewed two of the court members agreed that
separating Mildred and Richard would be unconstitutional to the Fourteenth Amendment. Long
after the case was first stated in 1959, the court decide that the Lovings had full right to marry,
due to the Equal Protection in the Fourteenth Amendment, saying that it was unconstitutional to
deny a black and a white from marriage, as it would also deny equal rights.
Mildred and Richard Loving we're finally able to come back to Caroline County, Virginia
and live out their lives in peace. After being evacuated from Caroline County, returning, and
going back to court, the Lovings finally were able to be together in Caroline County due to help
from the Equal Protection Clause. A black and a white being able to wed together in eternal
matrimony, marking an end to the fight for interracial marriage endeavor.








Sources
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/loving.html
http://kids.laws.com/14th-amendment\
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/tenth_amendment