“The Loving Story” that decriminalized interracial marriage

This story was originally covered by PRI’s The Takeaway. For more, listen to the audio above.

Hours after tying the knot, Mildred and Richard Loving were woken up in the middle of the night by police standing over their bed. It was Virginia in 1958, and Mildred was of Native American and African decent, while Richard was European. They were arrested on felony charges for breaking the “Racial Integrity Act of 1924,” which banned marriage between whites and non-whites.It would be another nine years before the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the 1924 Act in the case of Loving v. Virginia.

The Loving case dismantled all laws restricting interracial marriage in the United States. More than fifty years after Mildred and Richard’s wedding, filmmaker Nancy Buirski has made a documentary, “The Loving Story,” about their case.

The Lovings did not set out to change society. When the couple was arrested, they were sentenced to one year in prison, though the sentence would be suspended for 25 years, provided they left the state of Virginia.The Lovings were forced to move, and settled in Washington, DC. Buirski explains that their ostracization is what motivated them to fight back:

I think that the power and the principle of this case kinda crept up on them.They were very interested in just getting home and living in Virginia with their family. But I think the more they stayed involved in it, and they dealt with some of the legal issues with [attorneys] Phil Hirshkop and Bernie Cohen, the more they began to realize that there was a principle involved, and they felt — particularly Richard who was a very quiet, taciturn gentleman — just felt that this was wrong.

Buirski says that Richard “was just determined to stay married to the woman he loved.”

The filmmaker hopes that the fact that this couple were unlikely heroes will inspire viewers. She says. “I think it also reminds us that people — anyone, really, can change history.People can do it for reasons that may not really necessarily fit into the history books, but they can really make a difference.”

Although anti-miscegenation laws were overruled by the Loving’s case, Attorney Phil Hirshkop, who represented the couple, sees similar issues today: “Nancy puts her finger on it — the parallel to gay marriage, and gay rights, and gay unions.”

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“The Takeaway” is a national morning news program, delivering the news and analysis you need to catch up, start your day, and prepare for what’s ahead. The show is a co-production of WNYC and PRI, in editorial collaboration with the BBC, The New York Times Radio, and WGBH.