Virginia Hasn't Always Been for Lovers: Interracial Marriage Bans and the Case of Richard and Mildred Loving

334 Pages·2008·1.67 MB·English

by  Phyl Newbeck

(cid:197)(cid:197)(cid:197)
(cid:21)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:6)(cid:8)(cid:13)(cid:8)(cid:0)
(cid:197)(cid:7)(cid:0)(cid:18)(cid:13)(cid:171)(cid:19)(cid:197)
Phyl Newbeck
(cid:197)(cid:197)(cid:0)(cid:11)(cid:22)(cid:0)(cid:24)(cid:18)(cid:197)(cid:197)(cid:197)(cid:197)(cid:197)(cid:197)(cid:197)(cid:197)
(cid:197)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:13)(cid:197)(cid:5)(cid:14)(cid:17)(cid:197)
(cid:197)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:21)(cid:4)(cid:17)(cid:18)
Interracial Marriage Bans and the Case of
Richard and Mildred Loving
Virginia Hasn’t Always Been for Lovers

❤
❤
Virginia Hasn’t
Always Been for
Lovers
Interracial Marriage Bans and the Case of
Richard and Mildred Loving
Phyl Newbeck
Southern Illinois University Press • Carbondale
Copyright © 2004 by the Board of Trustees,
Southern Illinois University
Paperback edition 2008
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
11 10 09 08 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Newbeck, Phyl, 1961–
Virginia hasn’t always been for lovers : interracial marriage bans and the case of Richard
and Mildred Loving / Phyl Newbeck.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Interracial marriage—Law and legislation—Virginia—History—20th century. I. Title.
KFV2495.5.N49 2004
346.75501'6—dc22 2003028064
ISBN 0-8093-2528-4 (cloth binding : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8093-2857-4 (paperback : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8093-2857-7 (paperback : alk. paper)
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American Na-
tional Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. (cid:39)
To the late George D. Jackson,
who taught me a lot more than just backspins

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
Part One: Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving
1. I Do 9
2. The Passing Capital of America 17
Part Two: The Rise and Fall of Antimiscegenation Statutes in the United States
3. Making Sense of Senseless Laws 25
4. How It All Began 37
5. The Prosecutions Continue 55
6. Taking Away the Children and the Money 64
7. The West Leads the Way 75
8. The Organizations Challenge, and the Challenges
Become Organized 89
9. The Sad Case of Ruby and Ham 103
10. Connie and Dewey Share a Room 117
vii
viii Contents
Part Three: Loving v. Virginia
11. Richard and Mildred Want to Go Home 135
12. On to the Supreme Court 147
13. The Amicus Briefs 161
14. Virginia and North Carolina Defend the Indefensible 169
15. May It Please the Court 173
16. The Supreme Court Speaks 186
Part Four: The Aftermath
17. Not All States Listen 193
18. “A Big Interracial Display of Their Romance” 197
19. The Feds Finally Step In 206
20. Happily Ever After 214
Appendix A: Virginia’s Racial Integrity Statute 223
Appendix B: Florida’s Antimiscegenation Laws 225
Appendix C: Miscegenation Statutes, by State 227
Notes 233
Bibliography 275
Index 291
Illustrations
Following page 132
“The genesis of the word”
Harry Bridges and Noriko Sawada with their attorney
One-room schoolhouse in Central Point, Virginia
Caroline County jail and closeup of sign
Judge Leon Bazile
Mildred Loving’s plea for help
Richard and Mildred Loving relaxing with friends
Richard and Mildred with Richard’s mother and their daughter Peggy
A crime “against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth of Virginia”
The beginnings of the court case
The lawyers who represented the Lovings: Bernie Cohen and
Philip Hirschkop
Berta Linson and Roger Mills
The Loving children
Mildred Loving in 1992
ix