In 1967 the Supreme Court struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. At the time, there were 16 states with such laws on the books.
The Court ruling came as a result of a case called Loving v Virginia, named for Richard and Mildred Loving, a white man and a black woman who lived in Virginia, but were jailed and then forced to leave the state.
50 years later, a growing number of Americans are in mixed-race marriages. I’m one of them. I’m white, and my wife is black. We’ve been happily married for over 10 years.
My wife and I wanted to do something special to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia. So we launched The Loving Project.
The first part of the project is a podcast. We’re interviewing interracial married couples and asking them to tell their stories and share their thoughts about their relationships and about this moment in history.
You can visit the Loving Project website for more details, or subscribe to the show to make sure you never miss an episode.
The Loving Project is also on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.
We’ve done several interviews so far, and everybody’s story is different and each is compelling in its own way. You can check out our first interview by clicking the play link below:
We’re also planning to organize some sort of Loving Day event close to the June 12th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling, which has become known by many as an unofficial holiday called “Loving Day.” So if you’re in the Philly area, stay tuned for details.
