Our precedent case

This afternoon I went to see the movie Loving, the story of Richard and Mildred Loving. They were a mixed-race couple who ended up challenging Virginia’s ban on such marriages all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supremes overturned Virginia’s ban as well as such laws still active in 15 other states. That ruling set the precedent for same-sex marriage 48 years later.

The whole reason for the lawsuit is the ranking and dominator society I mentioned in my report on the Chalice and Blade yesterday. The couple were dragged out of bed and forced to leave Virginia because the white leadership in the state ranked colored people so low that they weren’t allowed to marry and dilute the white race.

Richard, who works as a bricklayer, is as comfortable in black society as he is in white. He appears easily cowed by the white establishment. He is quiet and unsure, not wanting the spotlight. He doesn’t want to fight the system because that means jail time for both of them and she is pregnant. He obviously loves his wife and growing family and wants to be there to care for them.

Mildred, by contrast, may be reticent, but she is also articulate. She is the one who calls for help, by way of a letter to Bobby Kennedy, the new Attorney General. He can’t help them directly, but does pass their case on to the ACLU.

I enjoyed the film and pleased to see it out there. It is a good challenge to the dominator society.