Love on Trial ― The Legacy of the Lovings and the Fight for Multiracial Belonging

By Rick Thomas

“What are you doing in bed with this woman?”

That was the question a sheriff in full uniform—badge, gun, and all—shouted at a sleeping couple in the early hours of 1958.
At 2 A.M.?
To quote the 1987 R&B group The System: “Don’t Disturb This Groove.” But disturb it, he did.

That couple, Richard and Mildred Loving—he white, she Black and Native American—were legally married. Yet their relationship was deemed criminal in their home state of Virginia. Theirs was a love story thrust into the national spotlight by the deeply unjust laws of the Jim Crow South.

Their story began with that late-night raid and grew into a historic legal battle that would change America. The Lovings had married in Washington, D.C., where interracial marriage was legal. But when they returned to Caroline County, Virginia, they were arrested for violating the state’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924.

Their sentence: one year in prison. The judge offered them a deal—leave Virginia and stay out for 25 years. They accepted, moving to D.C., forced into exile from their home.

But the Lovings didn’t give up. Mildred wrote to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who referred their case to the ACLU. Two young attorneys, Bernard S. Cohen and Philip J. Hirschkop, took up their cause.

On June 12, 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Loving v. Virginia that laws banning interracial marriage were unconstitutional. Chief Justice Earl Warren declared that marriage is a fundamental right protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The ruling invalidated bans in 16 states. It was not just a legal victory—it was a cultural milestone.

Now, every year on June 12, we observe Loving Day, honoring the courage of the Lovings and celebrating the progress their case inspired.

But here’s the thing: I didn’t even know about Loving Day until last year. That ongoing debate about whether Black history is being taught in schools? This is part of it. I never learned this story in elementary school, high school—or even college.

And I should have.

Now, in 2025, we’re still learning. Still unlearning. Still fighting.

Fast forward to today. In Southern California, the spirit of Loving Day lives on—not just on June 12, but throughout the entire month. The Multiracial Americans of Southern California (MASC), based in Los Angeles and Orange County, leads the charge.

“This is a movement,” says Thomas Lopez, MASC Treasurer and LA chapter board member.

“When I first joined MASC, I immediately felt a sense of home,” says Vice President Sonia Kang, who is of Black and Mexican descent. In college, she joined both the Black Student Union and a Latina organization—but neither space fully reflected her whole identity.

“It felt like I had to split myself,” she said. “MASC was what was missing.”

Kang describes her first MASC event as a transformative moment—finally, a space where she didn’t have to choose. “In the end, it’s about belonging and feeling included.”

Lopez, whose father was Mexican American, and mother was German/Polish American, has been involved in multiracial organizing for over 30 years.

“I was just looking for community,” he said. “I didn’t think I could fit in—until I found this.”

Nancy Brown, one of MASC’s co-founders, echoes that sentiment. A white woman with African American children, she recalls her daughter auditioning for commercials but being forced to check only one box under “ethnicity.”

“That always bothered me,” Brown said. “We raised our children to be both.”

This is why MASC’s mission is personal for so many—and why its work is critical in the years ahead, especially as we approach the 2030 U.S. Census.

All three MASC leaders pointed independently to the same issue: the way multiracial Americans are counted.

The upcoming 2030 census may include reforms that more accurately reflect the diversity of modern America. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “Changes to questions about race and ethnicity will make the count more accurate, equitable, and legitimate.”

MASC is actively advocating with the Office of Management and Budget to ensure multiracial individuals are fully and fairly represented.

But before we look too far ahead, we must pause to reflect on what brought us here.

Richard and Mildred Loving are no longer with us. Richard died tragically in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. Mildred passed away in 2008, having helped reshape American history. In a rare interview, she told the Associated Press: “I never wanted to be a hero—I just wanted to be a bride.”

And she was.

A bride who changed the world.

So, this June, whether you attend a Loving Day event, join a MASC gathering, or simply share the Lovings’ story, remember what they stood for: love over hate, unity over division, and the courage of everyday people to stand up to injustice.

Because in the end, belonging shouldn’t be a battle.

It should be a given.