The Loving Story is a documentary about a married couple from Virginia. In the 1960s they left the state to be married in Washington D.C. because the man was white and the woman was African American and Native American, and at the time it was illegal for inter-racial couples to be married in Virginia. Actually the law was against co-habitation so even after the marriage, they were arrested and jailed. To be able to remain together they moved from rural Virginia to inner city Washington D.C. but they missed their family and friends and longed to move back to their hometown.
In the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, Mrs. Loving's cousin convinced her to write a letter to Attorney General Robert Kennedy about the situation and to ask if the current bill in Congress would make it legal for inter-racial couples to marry. He said the bill didn't cover it but she should write to the ACLU.
The ACLU took up the case. The movie outlines what happened.
Of especial interest is the fact that old candid video and video interviews, and still photography existed from that time period. Using old footage and photos the story was re-created without the use of paid actors doing recreations. The married couple were very much in love. The kids were happy. This made me cheer on the couple from the start.
To cut to the chase, the Supreme Court of our Nation wound up ruling on the case that inter-racial marriage should not be illegal. They compelled the states to change their laws. At that time, 1964, 21 states still had law on the books to ban inter-racial marriage. The last state to change was Alabama who finally got around to it in the year 2000.
I highly recommend this movie for anyone interested in Civil Rights and U.S. History. The movie had no mature content and the pace was good so kids can watch it. The legal proceedings were explained in detail which I found interesting because it gives a glimpse of how our legal system works.