One of my favorite cases from my law school education was the case of Loving vs. Virginia. You can't forget the name of the case - it's just too darn fitting.
At any event, I just found out that Mildred Loving died earlier this month. Everyone in the U.S. who is in an inter-racial marriage or intimate relationship owes a debt of gratitude to her. You can read about the case here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_vs_virginia
In a nutshell, the aptly named Lovings were a young couple, born and raised in Virginia, who decided to get married. The only problem was that she was half black and half American Indian, he was white. Now, today, that wouldn't seem like much of a problem at all, but in the 1950s the State of Virginia had something called the Racial Integrity Act, a law which allowed for the forced sterilization of convicted criminals, the retarded and the handicapped, and also made interracial marriage a felony (not a misdemeanor, not a traffic ticket - a felony - real prison time). Just by getting married, Richard and Mildred Loving were turned into criminals. They were arrested, plead guilty, and were sentenced to a year in prison.
The trial judge said:
Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and He placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with His arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that He separated the races shows that He did not intend for the races to mix.
Jeez, how retro is that? That judge probably would have had a heart attack if he'd seen some of the happy interracial families in my SGI Area!
At any event, in order to avoid prison, the Lovings were sentenced to a sort of exile - they had to leave the state of Virginia and not return for 25 years. They moved across the Potomac to Washington, DC. But the problem was that all their family lived in Virginia, and so the Lovings couldn't go home for weddings and funerals and so forth. Can you imagine? This was in my lifetime! How oppressive!
Finally, Mrs. Loving wrote a letter to then-US Attorney General Robert Kennedy about her and her husband's situation. Kennedy referred them to the American Civil Liberties Union, which took on the Lovings' case. Finally, almost ten years after they were married, the US Supeme Court upheld their right to marry. Richard died in a car accident in 1978, but Mrs. Loving continued on raising their three children.
In a statement commemorating the 40th anniversary of this decision in 2007, Mrs. Loving said:
Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.
I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight, seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.
Thank you, Mildred Loving, for being a champion of fairness and a champion of the right to love. Bon voyage, and I hope you have a wonderful eternity - you deserve it.
Your admiring friend in Los Angeles,
Byrd Ehlmann
Posted by wahzoh at May 19, 2008 10:29 AMIf I had been there I couldn't have resisted saying to the judge that if what he said was true then the whites should never have left their own damned continent to take away the home of another race, or imported as slaves those of yet another race. What a totally bankrupt, corrupt, hypocritical, irrational, and hateful mentality those people had or perhaps in some cases have. My idea of "racial purity" would be to root out and exterminate any of my so-called "race" who think the way that judge thought. But I guess that is not a very Buddhist attitude on my part. Something for me to chant about. I know in the end that it is better to change hearts than to wage war - but sometimes I am do disgusted that I wish to take up a sword or an axe. I guess that is why I used to be a punk rocker - it expressed my violently passionate outrage at this sick and insipid society.
As for the Lovings, I would say that even though they probably never even heard of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, they lived its true spirit of dignity and equality for all people. And in the end I think that was far more effective than being violent, bitter, or merely outraged. Their love opened the way for those whose hearts and minds were ready to grow into something more worthy of what our country, in fact our humanity, deserves.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
Byrd -
I must second your sentiments, as my own marriage and my daughter would not be legal. For that matter, as my wife is a child of an African-American father and a Japanese mother, she would have been "outlawed" if this judge's ruling and attitudes had been allowed to stand.
Namaste, Engyo Mike Barrett
Posted by: Engyo Mike Barrett at May 19, 2008 05:25 PMThings have certainly changed.
Posted by: robin at May 19, 2008 10:24 PM