Week 13

"In a unanimous decision, the Court held that distinctions drawn according to race were generally "odious to a free people" and were subject to "the most rigid scrutiny" under the Equal Protection Clause. The Virginia law, the Court found, had no legitimate purpose "independent of invidious racial discrimination." The Court rejected the state's argument that the statute was legitimate because it applied equally to both blacks and whites and found that racial classifications were not subject to a "rational purpose" test under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court also held that the Virginia law violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. "Under our Constitution," wrote Chief Justice Earl Warren, "the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State." Oyez.com - Loving v. Virginia

Loving v. Virginia as a supreme court case has shaped the path of America (at least legally) discrimination wise. If the judges on this case had ruled the other way then racially charged marriage laws would still be around. In addition there would have never been Obergefell v. Hodges which legalized same sex marriage nationwide. It closed doors for other forms of discrimination too. For example people now, again at least legally, cannot be denied the right to purchase something or attend a place because of the color of their skin, religion, sex, etc. Though this case simply affected the legal viewing of discrimination in America, it also opened the doors for individuals to come to their own personal understanding that racism is wrong, and that they should not discriminate based on someones beliefs or skin color.