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Article: When Marriage Was Illegal;25 Years Ago, a Triumph of Love and Law Over Racism
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- June 14, 1992
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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THE DISGRACE of the Rodney King verdict shows us how far America
has to go in its race relations. The gentle triumph of Mildred and
Richard Loving shows us how far we have come. Today their children
are free to marry whomever they wish and live wherever they choose.
It was not, however, always this way.
In the early 1950s, Richard Loving was a teenager in rural
Caroline County, Va., 100 miles south of Washington. He and a buddy
owned a car and drag-raced on Saturdays. He liked to listen to his
friend's brothers play country music for the neighbors. And he got
to know their kid sister Mildred, then 10 or 11.
In 1958, childhood acquaintance blossomed into marriage. Richard