Loving v. Virginia - Milestone Documents

Loving v. Virginia

( 1967 ) Commentary by Peter Wallenstein, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Essential Quotes

“The clear and central purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment was to eliminate all official state sources of invidious racial discrimination in the States.”

“There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the Equal Protection Clause.”

“The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.”

“Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.”

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Civil War–era satire of a "Miscegenation Ball" (Library of Congress)

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