Virginia Hasn't Always Been for Lovers: Interracial Marriage Bans and the Case of Richard and Mildred Loving

by Phyl Newbeck

This landmark volume chronicles the history of laws banning interracial marriage in the United States with particular emphasis on the case of Richard and Mildred Loving, a white man and a black woman who were convicted by the state of Virginia of the crime of marrying across racial lines in the late 1950s. The Lovings were not activists, but their battle to live together as husband and wife in their home state instigated the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that antimiscegenation laws were unconstitutional, which ultimately resulted in the overturning of laws against interracial marriage that were still in effect in sixteen states by the late 1960s.

Genres: Law, American History, Race, Nonfiction, History

332 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Everythingiric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phyl Newbeck is an enabler of geeks like me who love stats, facts and research about EVERYTHING Interracial and Intercultural. My copy of this book is marked, highlighted, dog-eared...whatever you can think of to indicate that it's been constantly referenced and read multiple times.

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

71:2025
I've been interested in the Loving case for quite some time, and added this to my to read list a long while ago, finally making time for it and getting finished up over break. For what is essentially a compilation of the legal history of interracial marriage and the many antimicegination laws that stood in the way, this book was super interesting and surprisingly easy to read. Not a fast read but full of remarkable cases and information. My jaw about hit the floor when I learned when the last antimicegination law finally came off the books, and if you thought that the timeline desegregating schools and overall failure to comply with Brown vs. Board of Education was bad.... Wow!!

[Beto O'Byrne · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone interested in the legal constructs of race and the efforts to address them, this book is a great dive into that topic!

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because I was doing a research paper on the history of interracial marriage in the US, and it was by far the most helpful resource I came across. Anyone who is interested in the subject or just wants to learn something new; prepare to be educated.

[Cranky Librarian]

Honestly, the name is what got me, but the subject matter seems quite interesting.