Memphis Loving Day is pleased to announce its first Loving Day celebration, which will take place Saturday, June 14th with a picnic in Marquette Park (Park Avenue and Mt. Moriah)
Nationwide, annual Loving Day celebrations are held on or around June 12th. This was the date, in 1967, that the Supreme Court struck down all laws that forbade interracial relationships with the case of Loving v. Virginia (1967).
Imagine that it is a peaceful night in your modest home that you have shared with your new husband for less than two months. You are asleep in bed when suddenly the county sheriff and two deputies burst into your bedroom. You and your husband are eventually arrested, placed in jail, plead guilty, and are banished from your home for over 25 years. What crime would warrant such harsh treatment? Were you and your husband accused of treason or worse? No, the only crime you are guilty of is a White person being married to or living with a non-White person. And this was what happened to Richard and Mildred Loving in 1958, in their home state of Virginia.
Less than 50 years ago, interracial couples were still illegal in many states in America.
Marriage, sex, and cohabitation were all punishable offenses. "When people think of interracial relationships, they mainly think of Black and Caucasian. But these laws also forbade relations outside your own race," said Marie Fischer, organizer of the Memphis Loving Day. "If you were Asian, you could not be in a relationship with someone who was Caucasian without being penalized. Can you imagine going to jail for falling in love? It is hard to believe that this still occurred in my lifetime."
