In the year 1950s, a black woman named Mildred Loving was in love with a white American named Richard. To get married, they had to travel to Washington, DC to equivocate Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act – a law to “filter the whites”, prohibiting interracial marriages. When they arrived to Virginia, the couples were arrested in the middle of the night by the local police.
Even the fact that they were lawfully married in Washington; they were charged for violating state law criminalizing interracial marriage. After a brief detention, the state judge sentenced them to leave and only travel separately from Virginia and Caroline County. For five years, they suffered in banishment with their families.
Attempting upon a chance during the Civil Rights Movements, the Supreme Court reviewed their case. Imagine the misery of the process. The State disputed it was only shielding its people from the “evils” of mixed marriages. But the couple fought bravely. Richard told his lawyer, “Tell the Court I love my wife. It is just unfair that I can’t live with her in Virginia.”
A histrionic turn of events happened on June 12, 1967, when the Supreme Court declared racial purity laws unconstitutional in several states. On that day in history, all the incarcerated hearts were enlightened.
What happened in America is not far from what is happening around the world up until this moment. Although there is no law or rules about interracial marriages, but still the bias judgment and stereotyping of many people bring sufferings in the heart of people who dearly love each other. Many people still live in the conventional principle of partnership / marriages, which led to unhappy marriages, broken family and repetition of practice.
Not only racism is at large of the scene, but also gender biases, social status discrimination, cultural differences and misunderstanding, disability judgment, and many more.
As a teacher, I firmly believe that we have to start from ourselves. Let us accept and be proud of who we really are. Hence, believing that someday, the world will accept the fact that love should be a universal language that never sees our physical attributes and weaknesses, but appreciates who we really are, and understands that our heart has a decision of its own that cannot be comprehended even by the supreme law of the land.
By: Ms. Vanessa G. Arcos|Teacher III| Olongapo City National High School|Olongapo City
