In 1958, the pair were arrested in the middle of the night in their Virginia home after marrying the month before in Washington, D.C. The case that brought down interracial marriage bans in 16 states centered on the aptly named Richard and Mildred Loving.
Many decried it as judicial overreach and resisted its implementation for decades. The case established marriage as a fundamental right for interracial couples, but 72 percent of the public opposed the court’s decision at the time. The event takes its name from the 1967 Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. In June, many Americans marked Loving Day-an annual gathering to fight racial prejudice through a celebration of multiracial community.
