Loving v. Virginia

[chequita guevara]

Earlier this month, Mildred Loving died at the age of 68. It was only 41 years ago that the Supreme Court ruled that the Virginia law that made it illegal for Mildred and her husband Richard to wed was an unconstitutional violation of every human being's right to marry the person they wanted, regardless of the color of their skin (Mildred was black, Richard was white). At the time, their marriage was illegal in 17 states.

Back then, the American public didn't like the idea of interracial marriage, either. In 1958, 94 percent of Americans surveyed by Gallup said they disapproved of marriages between blacks and whites. Ten years later -- the year after the Loving decision -- the number had declined to a still-strong 73 percent. It wasn't until 1991 that more Americans approved of interracial marriage than disapproved. In the most recent Gallup poll on the topic, taken a year ago, the number disapproving had fallen to 17 percent.

[snoopy369]

RIP...

[Riesstiu IV]

One of the worst decisions by the Supreme Court.

[rah]

... and more proof that at least 17% of Americans are still stuborn idiots. Which Apolyton continues to reinforce.

[chequita guevara]

You might be surprised, but I'm willing to bet a large percentage of that 17% is actually minorities.

This is, of course, a personally important issue for me, as my wife and I got married in one of the states where it had been illegal. The Lovings remain two of my personal heroes.

More importantly, this shows that sometimes democracy is wrong. It took 24 years for the public to catch up to the courts. Mississippi didn't even remove anti-miscegenation language from its constitution until a few years ago. I still remember all the **** Bunnygrrl and I used to catch, and the strange looks, and even the family drama.

It gives me hope that gay marriage will be legal in the whole US soon.

[Wittlich]

Originally posted by rah
... and more proof that at least 17% of Americans are still stuborn idiots. Which Apolyton continues to reinforce.

[snoopy369]

I certainly wouldn't be surprised; the only interracial couple that I know had MUCH more difficulty from the black side than the white side of the family. It has a lot to do with the higher significance of family and clan in african american culture than in white culture (which has very little in most cases). To be fair, it's not exclusively mixed-color marriages that are a problem with people; mixed ethnicity is often difficult, no matter the color.

My Grandmother is Polish/Italian american, and both her parents (one Pole one Italian, both first generation immigrants, in Chicago) and my grandfather and her (he was full Italian) got a lot of flak over their marriages.

[Riesstiu IV]

interracial marriages create retarded offspring since the darker genes lower intelligence. It should be banned again.

[Arrian]

You might be surprised, but I'm willing to bet a large percentage of that 17% is actually minorities.

That was my first thought, actually.

-Arrian

[rah]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
You might be surprised, but I'm willing to bet a large percentage of that 17% is actually minorities.

No I wouldn't be surprised since over the years the biggest outcry in my experience has been from minorities themselves. Despite that, that camp based on the % is still quite large at over 40 million people in the US. There's still a ways to go but yes it does give us hope on other fronts.

[rah]

Originally posted by Riesstiu IV
interracial marriages create retarded offspring since the darker genes lower intelligence. It should be banned again.

Obviously, you are a product of an interracial marriage then.

A poor troll from the 17%.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Riesstiu IV
Riesstiu creates retarded offspring since the troll genes lower intelligence. Riesstiu should be banned.

Corrected

[Riesstiu IV]

I was wondering if someone would remember.

Except I'm not sure my parent's marriage would be illegal before Loving v. Virginia. Didn't these anti-miscegenation laws only apply to blacks and whites?

[jkp1187]

Ah, if it weren't for threads like this, how would I know who to put on my ignore list?

[rah]

Originally posted by Riesstiu IV
interracial marriages create retarded offspring since the darker genes lower intelligence. It should be banned again.

Actually this type of arguement used to amuse me. When someone tossed this one out, I usually say, "but wait, wouldn't the whiter genes contribute greater intelligence so the off spring would be smarter than one where both parents contributed darker genes. This is our gift to our black brothers to raise the next generation out of the gettos. " The dead silence that would usually fall over the room would be hysterical. But eventually Bubba would look up and go, maybe you have a point there. Ah, so hard to keep a straight face.