#loving vs virginia

This weekend is Loving Day, a celebration of the Supreme Court decision outlawing bans against interracial marriage. Our readers have been sharing their stories of how interracial marriage has affected their lives.

Although it’s never been a factor for us, the fact that we are different races definitely plays a role in our life. More than anything it has expanded our perspectives on life, love, and the American dream.

It’s beautiful! To think how far our country has come leaves us with nothing but optimism for where the country is headed!

– Shelby Erickson, Long Beach

More stories at latimes.com/loving. Share your story using #myLovingDay.

This weekend is Loving Day, a celebration of the Supreme Court decision outlawing bans against interracial marriage. Our readers have been sharing their stories of how interracial marriage has affected their lives.

Being multiracial today means that you don’t have a racial group to identify with. For me, it means that I don’t blend in with my white friends and family, but I also stand out amongst minority groups. It means I’m an outsider because, “[I] don’t really know what it’s like." 

On the other hand, being mixed race is fantastic! My parents raised me with all of my racial/cultural traditions. In one month, I could go to a Swiss Days festival and then dance at a Buddhist temple for Obon. I took both ballet and hula classes; I grew up with the biggest palette; and a pidgin English that included, Finnish, Swedish, Danish, Japanese, Tagalog, Hawaiian, and Lao. 

While I don’t fit in completely with any one group, I have some "claim” to so many beautiful and unique traditions.

– Sarah Brown Rupper

More stories at latimes.com/loving. Share your story using #myLovingDay.

This weekend is Loving Day, a celebration of the Supreme Court decision outlawing bans against interracial marriage. Our readers have been sharing their stories of how interracial marriage has affected their lives.

My daughter, Marika, was born May 22, 2015.

In the haze of post-delivery joy, my wife, Karen, and I had yet to run down a set of life lessons to impart to our new family member. We were still waiting for a moment to get a good look at her so we could settle on which of three names we would bestow.

Now, we’ve survived our first sleepy year of being parents and withstood a series of honest discussions between us on raising a child with an African American dad and Filipino mom.

Karen, for example, wanted Marika to learn to speak English and Tagalog like she did. My wife would occasionally point to things and describe them in both languages.

I would want Marika to have an appreciation for black history.

We came to a pretty simple conclusion: Our goal would be to help her develop a strong sense of self.

We believe it’s the best way for her to gird herself from people who can’t see past stereotypes. She in turn can educate and inform people about who she is.

Sure, much of what we’ll say to her in the years to come will probably touch on an assortment of historical and societal issues and how that affects her. But we believed our best move was to make sure she gets a good dose of exposure to our families on both sides and to our cultures.

In other words, we hope little Marika grows up to be as familiar with pancit as she is with black-eyed peas.

We know there’s lots of ground to cover. I mean, she’s just getting a handle on the whole “mommy” and “daddy” thing.

And that’s a big deal because I believe how she sees us is how she’ll view herself.

For right now, it’s enough that she knows that mommy loves daddy and daddy loves mommy and they both love her.

–Robert Meeks, Los Angeles Times

More stories at latimes.com/loving. Share your story using #myLovingDay.

This weekend is Loving Day, a celebration of the Supreme Court decision outlawing bans against interracial marriage. Our readers have been sharing their stories of how interracial marriage has affected their lives. 

“My parents were married shortly after Loving vs. Virginia. This image of my Black dad and Mexican mom joining hands with us, their biracial children, in a flexible link secured us during waves of prejudice, stereotypes and misunderstandings from the outside world with the ability to pull us in as needed for support.  A search for my identity, illustrated by our hands forming an abstract heart, is based on the love and confidence we had for each other to find our own way individually and as a unit.“

– Sonia Smith-Kang

More stories at latimes.com/loving. Share your story using #myLovingDay.