Forty-six years ago, on June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court ruled that a Virginia law prohibiting Mildred Jeter Loving, who was black, and Richard Loving, who was white, from marrying because of their race was unconstitutional. Their family name, "Loving," was so perfect for a case about love that it probably would have been dubbed unbelievable if the story were being pitched as fiction.
The case transformed the landscape of America. In a statement to The Root,Kim Keenan, general counsel for the NAACP, said of Loving v. Virginia impact, along with other key cases, it brought an end to a separate-and-unequal legally sanctioned way of life in America.