Today, June 12th, is Loving Day. 

“Loving Day is the anniversary of a historic court decision for interracial marriage. Every year on June 12th, it’s a global day of visibility, education, and community.” (Taken from lovingday.org)

I’ve written about Loving Day before, because of its direct impact on my family — my African American husband and our mixed-race son. (You can click here to read a post I wrote in 2020.)  

And I continue to write about Loving Day because it’s so very important to remember that the rights and laws we currently have weren’t always our rights and laws. And, as we’ve seen, laws can be changed; revoked even. So I don’t take Loving Day for granted. 

This year, I wanted to highlight a wonderful children’s book — The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage by Selina Alko, illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko. (Fun fact — the author and illustrator are themselves an interracial couple.)

The charming book tells the story of Richard and Mildred Loving — how they fell in love, how they married (in Washington, D.C.), how they were arrested for living together in Virginia (where interracial marriage was not legal), how they wanted to leave their home in Washington, D.C. and legally live in Virginia with their three children, and how their court case made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court. 

And, what it all boiled down to was expressed in this brief, heartfelt message from Richard Loving which was read to the Supreme Court justices: “Tell the Court I love my wife, and it is just unfair that I can’t live with her in Virginia.” 

On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the Lovings and interracial marriage. 

1967. 

Only 57 years ago.

Please note: I am including a link to buy the book that I’m highlighting this week. If you use my link, I do make a small commission on your purchase at no additional cost to you. I am working with Bookshop.org which also sends a portion of the profit to support local, independent bookstores.