riviersonderend

Mildred Loving was 68. Mildred het bekendheid verwerf omdat sy liefgehad het. Dit was haar groot sonde. In 1967 het sy die Amerikaanse staat Virginia na die hooggeregshof gesleep, omdat sy nie met die man kon trou vir wie sy lief was nie.

Sy was swart. Richard, haar geliefde, was wit. Wat hulle wou doen was sonde.

In die saak Loving vs. Virginia bevind die Amerikaanse hooggeregshof dat die verbod op gemengde huwelike onkonstitusioneel is.
In 2007 tydens die 40ste viering van die afskaffing van die verbod op gemengde huwelike in Amerika het Mildred Loving opgemerk:

Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.

I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.

Na haar dood, het haar dogter, Peggy Fortune, aan die pers opgemerk: “I want (people) to remember her as being strong and brave yet humble — and believed in love.”

Rus in vrede, Mildred.