The Curious Case of Loving Virginia

One of the few states which banned interracial marriage in the ’60s was Virginia. However, African-American and Native American Mildred Jeter married the American Richard Loving in 1958. They were convicted for violating Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924, criminalizing citizens who engage in mixed-race unions.

The couple appealed and took the case to the Supreme Court in 1967. And a year later, the court upheld unto their favor. The better news is that the case served as a way to strike down Virginia’s law on mixed-race union and made interracial marriage legal across the United States.