Mildred Loving, R.I.P.

Jason Kuznicki on May 5th 2008

Mildred Loving has died. From the Washington Post:

Mildred Loving, a black woman whose challenge to Virginia’s ban on interracial marriage led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling striking down such laws nationwide, has died, her daughter said Monday.

Peggy Fortune said Loving, 68, died Friday at her home in rural Milford. She did not disclose the cause of death.

Loving and her white husband, Richard, changed history in 1967 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld their right to marry. The ruling struck down laws banning racially mixed marriages in at least 17 states.

They had married in Washington in 1958, when she was 18. Returning to their Virginia hometown, they were arrested within weeks and convicted on charges of “cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth,” according to their indictments.

Farewell to a courageous and exemplary American, one who continued until the end of her life to stand up for what she believed in.

Filed in The Bench

2 Responses to “Mildred Loving, R.I.P.”

  1. # Ellioton 05 May 2008 at 10:21 pm

    Wow. What else can I say! Thank God for a court system that is willing to hear our grievances, and for courageous people who are willing to stand up and speak out when the law needs to be changed…

  2. # AMWon 06 May 2008 at 10:45 am

    R.I.P.

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