Years ago and to this day, when problems become major the supreme court of the United States solves them. A supreme court is the most grand judicial court in a country an individual can go to for additional help (“Supreme Court of the United States”). This is for extreme cases that threaten someone or something. The supreme court has the power to inform Congress that a law has violated the Constitution. This includes, but is not limited to, discrimination of gender, age, ethnicity, and other rights to pursue happiness.
A woman named Mildred Jeter fell in love with a man named Richard Loving. The only reason they faced problems was because the color of their skin. The Loving v. Virginia case was sparked over miscegenation laws of interracial marriage and eventually allowed all races to be together. Due to the miscegenation laws of Virginia, interracial marriage restrictions caused the Lovings to endure many hardships. They were a normal couple who were deeply in love. Mildred Jeter was African American while Richard Loving was American (“Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court of the United States”).
Due to this they had many hardships. Not only did these problems affect their personal lives, but it also affected the world around them. Many people saw them differently because of their skin colors. This was because black people were viewed as slaves. White people were not supposed to fall in love with people who work for them. Also, the restrictions not allowing mixed races to be together made an effort to keep the Lovings apart from each other. Similarly, the miscegenation laws of Virginia banned the marriage of interracial couples (“Loving v.
Virginia: The Case Over Interracial Marriage”). In the state of Virginia, the couple was sent to prison because they violated the miscegenation laws. One late night in their Virginia home, police broke into their house. Later, they were brought to prison. The authorities educated them about the laws of Virginia. The statement shows what happened to the Lovings. “At the October Term, 1958, of the Circuit Court of Caroline County, a grand jury issued an indictment charging the Lovings with violating Virginia’s ban on interracial marriages” (“Loving v.
Virginia LII”). Due to the fact they were charged guilty, the Lovings made the decision to take their case to court. On April 10, 1967, the angry couple explained that the law was a violation of their privacy and wellbeing. The following shows the Loving’s reason to get help. “These Lovings claimed that the state law violated their 14th Amendment rights to pursuit life, liberty and happiness” (“Loving v Virginia” laws. com). In this ruling, the judge was Leon. M Bazile. Immediately, he made his final decision about the conflict.
He believed that people of different ethnicities were not supposed to love each other. Leon Bazile quoted, “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents … The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix” (qtd in “Loving v. Virginia: The Case Over Interracial Marriage”). In his eyes, he thought that people who were different in their culture and different races of people should not be in a relationship. His claim was also driven by religious beliefs.
Though their jail sentence was shortened by Leon Bazile from twenty five years to one, they were still unsatisfied (“Loving v. Virginia The Case Over Interracial Marriage”). They still had to spend a whole year in prison. According to them, being put in jail for being together was wrong. This pushed them into fighting even harder for freedom. Besides their sentence not being completely exiled, the court ruled that Virginia’s laws did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment rights. However, they agreed to shorten their jail sentence for peace.
At that time in the 1900’s, interracial marriage was banned in Texas, Alabama, Georgia, and twelve other states. Marriage between a black and white was very controversial for many reasons. Reasons to not allow interracial couples was because in certain places, blacks were still viewed as slaves. White people believed they were higher in society than them and therefore had more power (“The Problem With Interracial Marriage”). To opinionated people, color meant that two people were completely different. Immediately after the couple were denied what they wanted, they took action.
Mildred Loving and Richard Loving reached out for further advice and help. To get justice, they hired another attorney named Robert F. Kennedy to continue with further help and advice. Robert Kennedy suggested that they contacted the American Civil Liberties Union. With this information, they made the decision to go to the Supreme Court Justice. The A. C. L. U protects individual’s rights in civil cases (“Loving v Virginia: The Case Over Interracial Marriage”). The ACLU helped hire two attorneys named Bernard Cohen and Philip J. Hirschkop. As attorneys, they were very supportive of the Lovings’ situation.
They decided to work on their case, free of charge. As they were studying the Lovings, Cohen explained his true feelings about them. Cohen claimed, “They were very simple people, who were not interested in winning any civil rights principle” (qtd in “Loving Decision: 40 Years of Legal Interracial Unions”). Their many attempts to make the judge take away their sentences were all rejected. In return, the Lovings and their attorneys fought back. One statement made was that Virginia’s miscegenation laws went against the Constitution and also the Equal Protection Clause (“Loving v. Virginia: The Case Over Interracial Marriage”).
The following demonstrates how the court made their decision. “In a unanimous decision, the Court held that distinctions drawn according to race were generally “odious to a free people” and were subject to “the most rigid scrutiny” under the Equal Protection Clause”(“Loving v. Virginia Oyez”). As stated, the rights promised to Americans were violated for the Lovings. All throughout, the Lovings battled with severe problems to live together. In the end however, it would all pay off. After the actions made by the Lovings, the results came.
Mildred and Richard decided to go back to Washington D. C. for twenty five years. This proved to be the only way that they could be together without being arrested again. Even in Washington D. C. , where interracial marriage was permitted, the Lovings still dealt with oppression. For instance, they were not allowed to rent property in several areas. Ultimately, the main question was whether or not the miscegenation laws violated the Fourteenth Amendment. As proved by the Supreme Court under the ruling of Chief Justice Earl Warren, it definitely violated the rights of Americans.
Justice Warren declared that the laws of Virginia violated the Due Process Law (“Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court of the United States”). Justice Warren declared, “Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State” (qtd in “Loving v. Virginia LII”). This means that the decision to marry a person of a different race is only up to that individual. The state must allow an individual to marry someone of any ethnicity. The Due Process law firmly states that no individual can be deprived of their rights.
Similarly, it violated the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment. It declared that states do not have the right to create laws that deprive a person’s life of their dignity and well being. Therefore, Virginia was not allowed to make the arguments for legalizing same-sex marriage in America” (Goff). People who are attracted to others of the same gender see the Loving v Virginia case as a way to fight against the right to be together. It demonstrates that the Fourteenth Amendment says states cannot prevent a person from marrying another (“How the Loving Case Changed the U. S”).
It also argues that it is a direct violation of the Fourteenth Amendment clause and the right to happiness and liberty. Due to the action of the Lovings to go to court, they changed history forever. They knew that in order to be together for the rest of their lives, they would have to fight. The whole process took a total of nine years to be successful. Not only did they achieve freedom for themselves to live happily in Virginia, they guaranteed that right for the other fifteen states. Also, today this case helps mixed people be together as well as same sex lovers The whole case was a struggle throughout.
The decision to address their issue to the Supreme Court would serve as the main reason for interracial couple to be together in the future. Overall, the love of a couple was spared and they achieved the satisfaction of being together. miscegenation laws which prohibited the Lovings to live together. Continuing further, the Equal Protection Clause was also violated. As stated in the next quotation, the government can not take away basic rights from citizens. “Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State”(“Loving v.
Virginia laws. com”). Under Equal Protection Clause, laws are not allowed to discriminate against someone or something. As the Court agreed, the laws discriminated the Lovings’ rights to live together in the state in which they grew up. The pleas for justice took nine years to achieve and took place on June 12, 1967. After many trials, the Lovings were finally granted the freedom to live together in Virginia (“Loving Decision: 40 Years of Legal Interracial Unions”) Without conflict, they could travel and be together in any state of America.
Adding on to this, after the Supreme Court Case repealed the miscegenation laws of Virginia, other laws were also banned. The winning of the case not only improved the Lovings’ life; but also the lives of many others. Due to the realization of how the miscegenation laws violated people’s privacy, other changes were made. All fifteen states took out the laws banning interracial marriage. The upcoming statement demonstrates what the case accomplished. “It legalized interracial marriage in the 15 states that still had anti-miscegenation laws that prevented such unions”(Riley).
This was not only eligible for black and white couples. It gave the freedom to Asians, Indians, Native Americans, and other cultures to wed interracially (“How the Loving Case Changed the U. S”). Continuing forward, this case also has an immense impact on today’s society. For instance, it challenges the right for gay people to get married. The following quotation shows how this case has helped same sex marriage. “The Loving case has been repeatedly cited by supporters of gay marriage as one of the most substantive legal
