Loving 1967

On July 11, 1958 a couple of hours after midnight, Richard Loving a white man and Mildred Loving an African American woman were awakened to the presence of three officers in their bedroom. One of the three officers demanded from Richard to identify the woman next to him. Mildred, full of fear, told the officers that she was his wife, while Richard pointed to the marriage license on the wall. The couple was then charged and later found guilty in violation of the state's anti-miscegenation statute. In the late 50s police officers could walk into your house when you’re sleeping and see who you’re sleeping with??? The court also reasoned that marriage has traditionally been subject to state regulation without federal intervention, and consequently, the regulation of marriage should be left to exclusive state control by the Tenth Amendment. This was fortunately overturned by the Supreme Court after the case was revisited by Bernard Cohen and Phil Hirschkop finding that the states were actually violating the 14^th amendment.

Those People...

After reading Gary Soto’s like Mexicans one particular part in this short story that really disturbed me, was the fact that Gary and his friend Scott at a young age could make the distinction among their different ethnic groups. By this I mean that there was an acknowledgment that both Gary and his friend Scott came from different ethnicity groups and should therefore keep within their groups when considering marrying. Couples often marry those of the same ethnic identity for a sense of familiarity. One may also want to spend their life with an individual who shares the same cultural ideology. This shared ideology could be political, religious, economic etc. A shared or common ideology reduces conflict and creates a sense of unity. Marriage after all is supposedly the act of two people uniting for the rest of their lives. I would not be a bit surprised if Scott at the same time was being reinforced by family members or peers that he too should stay among his own people. It’s this segregation taught by our own parents since birth that create this divided world we live in. We preach and study diversity all day long but it sure seems like everyone forgets it within the walls of their own home.