The Loving Story (2011, 2012)

The Loving Story is a documentary film that was completed in 2011 and shown on US television (Showtime) in 2012. It is the story of a white man and a coloured woman from Virginia who were not allowed to live there as husband and wife, because the laws of this state did not allow interracial marriage. Here is some basic information about it:

** Produced by Nancy Buirski and Elisabeth Haviland James

** Written by Nancy Buirski and Susie Ruth Powell

** Run time: 77 minutes

The story of Richard Loving (1933-1975) and Mildred Jeter Loving (1939-2008) begins in 1958. When the young couple realised they were not allowed to get married in Virginia, they travelled to Washington, DC, where interracial marriage was allowed.

Once they were married, they returned to their home state, thinking this would be in order. They were wrong. When the authorities discovered what was going on, they raided their home in the middle of the night, arrested them and put them in prison.

They appeared before Judge Leon M. Bazile, who sentenced them to one year in prison. However, the sentence was suspended for 25 years, if they agreed to leave the state at once and never return together again. That same day they left for Washington, DC, where they tried to settle down.

Over the next few years they had three children, but they were not happy in their new surroundings. They wanted to go home, and they tried sneaking back, but it was risky. If they were caught together in Virginia, they might both be sent to prison for one year.

PART ONE

The Civil Rights Movement in the US began in the 1950s and continued into the 1960s, but Richard and Mildred were not into politics. Richard was a bricklayer who wanted to provide for his family, while Mildred was a homemaker who took care of the children. They just wanted to live in Virginia, which the state would not allow.

Gradually, Mildred became aware of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1963 she wrote a letter to Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, the Attorney General, in which she explained their situation. She asked him to help them. The Attorney general replied. He said he could not do anything, but he understood their problem and referred them to the ACLU.

Mildred followed his advice, and this was how she and Richard came to meet two young lawyers who were prepared to take their case and do it for free: Bernard S. Cohen (born 1934) and Philip J. Hirschkop (born 1936).

Cohen and Hirschkop took this case all the way to the US Supreme Court. It was a long journey. But on 10 April 1967, the court was ready to hear the case. Once the presentation was over, they had to wait for a while.

Two months later, on 12 June 1967, the court ruled unanimously that the mixed couple had won: the state of Virginia would have to repeal the laws which forbade interracial marriage, and so would several other states. This was a slow process: Alabama was the last, repealing the obsolete law in the year 2000, more than thirty years after the ruling of the Supreme Court.

Finally, after nine years of exile in Washington, DC, Richard and Mildred could go home and they could stay there without having to worry if the police would raid their home in the middle of the night.

PART TWO

In this film we follow the case all the way from the marriage in 1958 to the victory in 1967. Many types of evidence are used to document the case. There are photos and film. Some are in black-and-white, while others are in colour.

Some clips are public, for instance a news report by CBS reporter Robert Pierpoint (1925-2011). Other clips are private recordings which were made in the home of the family or in the office of the lawyers.

In 1965 the famous photographer Grey Villet (1927-2000) took several pictures of the family which were used in an article that was published in LIFE Magazine in March 1966. These pictures are used in the film.

Several witnesses were interviewed for the film:

** Raymond Green, friend of Richard

** Ruthie Holliday, classmate of Richard

** Ken Edwards, deputy sheriff, Caroline County, 1967-1980

** Robert Pratt, friend of the family, historian, University of Georgia

** Edward Ayers, historian, president, University of Richmond

** Peggy Loving Fortune, daughter

The lawyers Cohen and Hirschkop appear several times. Some clips from the 1960s are in black-and-white, while other clips are recent interviews in colour. In other words, we see them when they were young and we see what they look like today!

As the case became known to the public, Richard and Mildred became heroes of the Civil Rights Movement, but they were reluctant heroes. They did not seek out the reporters. Both of them were camera-shy; they did not have much to say to the numerous reporters who wanted them to deliver a "sound-bite" for the evening news.

When we listen to them in the film, we can see that Mildred is the more articulate of them. She was the one who wrote to Bobby Kennedy. Her letter is quoted in the film. It is well-written: short and to the point.

When the case was going to be heard by the US Supreme Court, the lawyers invited the couple to attend. It was, after all, about their lives. But Richard did not want to go, and Mildred did not want to go without him. Richard did, however, have a message for the court:

“Mr. Cohen, tell the court I love my wife, and it is just unfair that I can’t live with her in Virginia.”

This was not a lawyer talking, but it was a message from the heart.

Richard and Mildred went back to Virginia. In 1975, as they were driving in their car, it was hit by a drunk driver. Sadly, Richard was killed. Mildred was injured: she lost the sight on one eye, but she survived. She lived the rest of her life in Virginia, close to her family and friends, in the house that Richard had built for them. She never re-married. When she died in 2008, she was 68.

CONCLUSION

The Loving Story is an important film about an important case. It is the story of a couple who stayed together even though the authorities tried to make it difficult for them. It is about the conflict between state rights and individual rights. It is a story that deserves to be told, and this film does it very well.

If you are interested in the history of the modern world – in particular the Civil Rights Movement – this film is something for you.

PS # 1. There is a book about the case: Virginia hasn’t always been for Lovers by Phyl Newbeck (2004, 2008)

PS # 2. The following book is for young readers: The Case for Loving with text by Selina Alko and illustrations by Sean Qualls (2015)

PS # 3. Mr. & Mrs. Loving is a drama-documentary that was shown on US television in 1996 and released on DVD in 2005. Timothy Hutton plays Richard and Lela Rochon plays Mildred in this dramatization of the case.

PS # 4. The following articles are available online:

** Dionne Walker (AP), "Pioneer of interracial marriage looks back," USA Today, 10 June 2007

** Douglas Martin, “Mildred Loving, who battled ban on mixed-race marriage, dies at 68,” New York Times, 6 May 2008

** Kate Sheppard, “The Loving Story,” Mother Jones, 13 February 2012

** Lily Rothman, “Richard and Mildred Loving: Reluctant Civil Rights Heroes,” Time Magazine, 13 February 2012

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The Loving Story,
Written and produced by Nancy Buirski,

Completed 2011, released 2012; run time: 77 minutes

 

 

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