So Richard and Mildred did what many interracial couples had to do.
They drove to Washington, D.C., where interracial marriage was legal.
On June 2, 1958, they were married.
Then they returned home.
The night the police came
Five weeks later, on a July night in 1958, the sheriff forced his way into their bedroom.
Flashlights filled the room.
Mildred pointed to the marriage certificate framed on the dresser.
She calmly told them:
“Richard is my husband.”
Sheriff Garnett Brooks didn’t care.
To the state of Virginia, the certificate meant nothing.
They were arrested.
Richard spent one night in jail before his family posted bond.
Mildred, pregnant at the time, remained in jail for days.
A cruel deal
In 1959, the Lovings stood before Leon Bazile.
The judge sentenced them to one year in prison.
But he offered them a deal:
Leave Virginia and do not return together for 25 years, and the sentence would be suspended.
Twenty-five years of exile for the crime of being married.
They had no choice.
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