Mildred's Letter to Robert F. Kennedy, 1963, University of Lynchburg
When the Lovings married each other in 1958, no constitutional challenge to anti-miscegenation laws succeeded in federal court.
In 1964, Mildred wrote to Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Attorney General, asking for legal help. He suggested contacting the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), an organization that defends and fights for people's rights. They agreed to represent them.
“We were here merely to obtain a reversal on behalf of Richard Perry Loving and Mildred Jeter Loving."
~Bernard Cohen, ACLU lawyer, 1967
While ACLU lawyers Bernard Cohen and Philip Hirschkop presented their arguments, 17 states remained steadfast in their refusal to repeal laws banning interracial marriages. Richard sent a message to the Court Justices: “Tell the Court I love my wife, and it is just not fair that I cannot live with her in Virginia.”
Bernard S Cohen and Philip J Hirschkop Meeting with the Lovings, 1964,
The Guardian
New York Times, June 12, 1967
The Supreme Court heard the case in 1967. Virginia’s Assistant Attorney General Robert D. McIlwaine III defended the constitutionality of his state’s anti-miscegenation law and compared it to similar regulations against incest and polygamy.
The Lovings’ lawyers argued the Virginia law was illegal under the 14th Amendment, which guarantees all citizens protection and the right to due process under the law.
The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of the Lovings.
Loving v. Virginia was a landmark ruling that triggered the nation to get rid of their anti-miscegenation laws. It was the perfect time to bring that case to the Supreme Court because the country was changing. Desegregation of schools, buses, and public spaces was beginning as the Jim Crow Era ended and the Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum.
"Marriage is one of the 'basic civil rights of man,' fundamental to our very existence and survival."
~U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Loving v. Virginia, 1967
Header photo: The Lovings, 1965, Grey Villet/Monroe Gallery of Photography