The Supreme Court Case Loving V. Virginia - 1815 Words

It is hard to believe that it has only been 48 years since the landmark 1967 Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, where the court unanimously declared Virginia s Racial Integrity Act of 1924 unconstitutional and ended all race-based marriage bans in the U.S. When I chose this topic for my assignment, I don’t know if it was the lack of knowledge or denial that led me to believe it was longer than 48 years ago. To me, it felt like it was not a long time ago, and it was mindboggling because that meant that when my parents grew up, it was illegal if you wanted to have an interracial marriage, let alone relationship. That thought made me sad, because if I had grown up in that time, it would be illegal to be with my boyfriend now. I am in†¦show more content†¦and they were both arrested and sentenced to one year in jail for violating Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act. Robert and Mildred have stated to their lawyers that they did not want to be known, they were j ust in love and trying to be with their families, but little did they know, from that point on they were changing history. When compiling my research, many articles were found that spoke about the documentary because of its similarities to the fight and struggles of same sex marriage happening today. There were also many articles with data accompanying it, showing how interracial marriages have grown and its acceptance. According to an article in Yahoo News in 2012, interracial marriages in the U.S climbed to a new high, 4.8 million – a record 1 in 12 marriages (8.3% nationwide). The percentage has grown almost twenty times since its legalization in all 50 states. A Pew Forum survey data also found that a record number approved of interracial marriage, however 14 percent of people still don t. For example, a poll taken in 2011, almost half of the registered Republican Mississippi voters said they thought interracial marriage should be illegal, and it was pointed out that, â€Å"nearly all the States that have laws against mixed marriage are in the South – where Whites are considered n ot likely to marry Blacks in large numbers, even though it is now permitted