On June 12, 1967, the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in Loving v. Virginia, declaring unconstitutional interracial marriage bans in Virginia and 15 other states — including West Virginia.
Writing for the court, Chief Justice Warren stated: “The fact that Virginia prohibits only interracial marriages involving white persons demonstrates that the racial classifications must stand on their own justification, as measures designed to maintain White Supremacy. We have consistently denied the constitutionality of measures which restrict the rights of citizens on account of race. There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the Equal Protection Clause [of the Fourteenth Amendment].”
On June 2, 1958, Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving went from Virginia to Washington, D.C., to get married. Mildred was part Black, part Native American; Richard was white. After the wedding, they went home to Virginia as Mr. and Mrs. Loving.
About a month later, police burst into the Lovings’ home and arrested them for violating Virginia’s miscegenation and “racial integrity” laws, which forbade interracial marriages between a white person and a person of color. In 1959, the couple pleaded guilty and received a suspended one-year sentence on the condition they leave the state. According to the ACLU, the couple was arrested again five years later on a visit to Virginia to see their families. That’s when Loving v. Virginia began its journey to the Supreme Court.
When we talk about civil rights, segregation, Jim Crow and all these racist laws, too often we think about them as belonging to a bygone era, but Loving v. Virginia was only 54 years ago.
The impending anniversary of this landmark decision spotlights the growing trend of interracial couples and families depicted in media. Films and shows have had multiracial couples in varying degrees of intimacy and importance since the late 1950s-early 1960s, so the increasing appearances of Black and white partnerships (or Black and Latino, or white and Asian, etc.) is notable but not groundbreaking.
It’s the increasing number of commercials and advertisements featuring multiracial couples and families in the last few years that has caught not only our attention, but the attention of Voice of America News, The New York Times and The Philadelphia Tribune.
Cheerios kicked it off in 2013 with a TV ad depicting an interracial family — and the backlash was swift and harsh. But there was also a lot of support as Americans realized they liked seeing themselves represented in media.
As marketing strategist Allen Adamson told the NYT in 2018, “Most marketers have come to realize that no matter what they do, a certain segment is going to be offended. But the upside — seeming inclusive — outweighs the risk of ruffling feathers.”
But even more surprising than the backlash to a cereal commercial are these numbers from a 2017 Pew Research poll: 39% of respondents said interracial marriage was good for society, up from 24% in 2010.
Loving v. Virginia was only 54 years ago. The controversial Cheerios ad was eight years ago. Only a little more than one-third of people thought interracial marriages were a good thing four years ago.
We have come a long way toward combating racism. But it’s apparent we still have a long way to go.
