There’s always a fantastic meaning that can be found in various movies, if only you look close enough. LOVING is one of those movies in which the message is extremely clear and potent. It’s like the Beatles say “All you need is Love,” but the love between Richard and Mildred Loving is undeniable, teaching tolerance, endurance, loyalty and sacrifice, and also demonstrating how one couple's love for each other can change and influence the course of history. Richard and Mildred Loving were an interracial couple who were charged in 1958 with violating Virginia state law that barred marriages between races. Richard was white, and Mildred was both Black and Native American, so their marriage was deemed invalid, and a crime. The couple pleaded guilty to violating the Virginia law, the Racial Integrity Act, and under a plea bargain, their one-year prison sentences were suspended on the condition that they leave Virginia and not return together or at the same time for 25 years. After the hearing, the judge told them that "if God had meant for whites and blacks to mix, he would not have placed them on different continents”.
The couple left the state unwillingly and moved to Washington where they had three children. Unable to withstand the injustice that was forced upon her and her family, Mildred decided to write Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy asking for help after being inspired by the Civil Rights Movement and the march on Washington.
Kennedy responded to her letter and referred her to the American Civil Liberties Union. The Lovings' case was accepted by the A.C.L.U, and their lawyers Bernard S. Cohen and Philip J. Hirschkop took their case to the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals which upheld the lower court ruling. As a result, the case went to the United States Supreme Court. The Lovings' refused to attend the oral proceedings, but won their case, which the Supreme Court ruled that the prohibition against the Lovings' was unconstitutional, which changed the course of history, as it also ended the remaining ban on interracial marriages in other states.At a time when the country is so racially charged and divided, it is important to have such a powerful and inspirational movie like this in theaters. LOVING teaches that it is important to fight for what is right despite the odds, even if it means you have to stand alone. The movie also shows us that it is important to follow our hearts, even when the world and sometimes the people around us might be saying differently. This movie is one that every person should see, so I encourage you to check your local listings, grab a friend, and go see this movie.
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