Loving v. Virginia & the Right to Marry

Hour 2

Mildred and Richard Loving grew up together in Central Virginia’s Caroline County and began dating when they were teenagers.  She was of African American and Native American descent, and he was white.  In June of 1958, they married in Washington D.C., and shortly after returning to Virginia, they were arrested in the middle of the night for defying the state’s law banning interracial marriage.  With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, in 1964, they sued the state of Virginia and after several appeals, in 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in their favor, striking down anti-miscegenation laws nationwide. In this hour of Radio Times, we will talk about the personal, cultural and judicial legacy of Mildred and Richard Loving and Loving v. Virginia. Our guests are Syracuse University law professor KEVIN NOBLE MAILLARD and University of Georgia history professor ROBERT A. PRATT, who grew up alongside the Loving family in Central Point, Virginia.

Listen to the mp3

Listen:
[audio: 021412_110630.mp3]