WHOSE LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER
CHANGED HISTORY ... IS BEING
SHOWN
ON THE BIG SCREEN NATIONWIDE AND
HERE AT THE GRANDIN THEATRE.
THE MOVIE LOVING IS ABOUT
MILDRED AND RICHARD LOVING.
HE WAS WHITE ... SHE WAS BLACK
AND
NATIVE AMERICAN.
DECADES AGO ... THEIR MARRIAGE
WAS AGAINST THE LAW IN VIRGINIA
AND
SEVERAL OTHER STATES. IN 19-58
... THE COUPLE WERE
MARRIED IN WASHINGTON D-C WHERE
IT WAS LEGAL BUT
RETURNED HOME TO VIRGINIA AND
WERE
ARRESTED.
A JUDGE SENTENCED THE
LOVINGS TO PRISON UNLESS THEY
LEFT
THE COMMONWEALTH FOR 25 YEARS.
THEY DID ... BUT RETURNED TO THE
STATE 5 YEARS LATER AND WERE
JAILED AGAIN.
THIS TIME THEIR CASE WENT ALL
THE
WAY TO THE U-S SUPREME COURT.
VIRGINIA TECH PROFESSOR PETER
WALLENSTEIN WROTE TWO BOOKS
ABOUT THE LOVING CASE.
PETER WALLENSTEIN, VIRGINIA TECH
PROFESSOR - "HOW CAN IT NOT
ALERT PEOPLE TO HOW POWERFUL
THESE LAWS ARE, HOW LONG THEY
LASTED, HOW
MANY PEOPLE THEY EFFECTED.
AFTER HEARING THE LOVING'S CASE
... THE COURT RULED THE BAN ON
INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE
UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
THE 19-67 DECISION PAVED THE WAY
FOR
OTHERS TO MARRY WHO THEY LOVE
REGARDLESS OF RACE.
WSLS 10'S BRIE JACKSON TALKED
WITH ONE COUPLE ABOUT THEIR
EXPERIENCES AND THEIR HOPES FOR
THE FUTURE.
PAMELA 20:08:25 THE BOTTOMLINE
IF YOU LOVE SOMEONE IT DOES
NOT MATTER THE COLOR OF YOUR
SKIN.
THEIR STORY BEGINS IN 1980 WHEN
CORWIN CASEY WAS AN
ACTIVITIES DIRECTOR AT A
CHILDREN'S HOME IN NORTH
CAROLINA.
IT WAS PAMELA'S FIRST DAY...SHE
ARRIVED AS A VOLUNTEER FROM HER
CHURCH IN OHIO
PAMELA CASEY 20:00:17
I'D ONLY BEEN THERE ABOUT AN
HOUR AND A LITTLE GIRL NAMED
TABITHA GRABBED ME BY THE HAND
AND SAID YOU NEED TO
MEET CORWIN.
CORWIN CASEY 19:56:15 I
COULD FEEL THE SINCERITY AND
GENUINENESS IN HER. SHE WAS A
PERSON THAT MADE ME LAUGH IN THE
BEGINNING THEY WERE JUST
COWORKERS WHO BECAME GOOD
FRIENDS AND LATER DEVELOPED
FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER.
CORWIN
19:57:37 I LITERALLY FELT
LIKE THIS IS THE PERSON I COULD
SPEND THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH.
DID COLOR ENTER THE PICTURE?
COLOR DID NOT ENTER THE
PICTURE.
THE CASEYS SAY AT THAT TIME RACE
WASN'T A FACTOR FOR THEM AND
THEY WERE UNAWARE THE
LOVINGS STORY.
NATS OF TRAILERS WHEN
THE CASEYS WERE DATING IN THE
80S.. IT HAD BEEN
JUST OVER A DECADE SINCE THE
LOVING CASE BROKE BARRIERS
FOR INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE. THEIR
STORY IS THE FOCUS OF
FILMS...AND BOOKS LIKE THE TWO
WRITTEN BY VIRGINIA TECH
PROFESSOR PETER WALLENSTEIN
NAT
PETER WALLENSTEIN:
17:21:08 I'VE BEEN WORKING ON IT
FOR 25 YEARS, IT'S A STORY THAT
JUST KEEPS PULLING ME BACK.
WALLENSTEIN SAYS THERE WERE
OTHER INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS
AT THAT TIME ...BUT ELEMENTS OF
THE LOVING CASE
WERE UNIQUE.
17:22:49 YOU SEE THE HORROR OF
BEING INTRUDED UPON, THE LAW
REACHES IN GRABS YOU OUT OF BED,
DRAGS YOU OFF TO JAIL. .
BY THE 80'S WHEN THE CASEY WERE
DATING, LAWS HAD CHANGED BUT
SOME SOCIETAL VIEWS REMAINED.
PAMELA SAYS THEIR MIXED-RACE
ROMANCE DREW NEGATIVE
ATTENTION AT WORK. 20:04:19 WE
WERE BOTH CALLED INTO THE OFFICE
AND THE EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR OF THE CHILDRENS HOME
TOLD US HE FELT LIKE IT WAS A
BAD
EXAMPLE FOR THE CHILDREN AND
THAT HE WAS GIVING ME 30 DAYS TO
LEAVE.
SHE CALLS THAT EXPERIENCE
HUMILIATING... BUT SAYS IT WAS
ONE
OF THE FEW HURTFUL MOMENTS THE
COUPLE SHARED .
20:03:34 I CANT SAY WE
EXPERIENCED ANYTHING EXTREMELY
NEGATIVE, WE OF COURSE, GOT A
LOT OF STARES
BECAUSE IT WAS NOT AS COMMON AS
IT IS NOW.
BY 1984...NEARLY 17 YEARS AFTER
THE LOVING'S CASE...PAMELA AND
CORWIN GOT MARRIED. LOOKING BACK
THE CASEYS
REMEMBER THE GOOD TIMES AND
BELIEVE THEY FACED MANY OF
THE SAME OBSTACLES OF ANY
MARRIAGE.
ALTHOUGH THEY SAY SOME
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES DID COME
INTO PLAY SUCH AS WHICH
CHURCH TO ATTEND. 20:09:06 IT
WAS NOT A HUGE ISSUE
WE KNEW WE WERE GOING TO WORSHIP
TOGETHER. IN OUR
HOME, ON SUNDAY, WHENEVER PEOPLE
WORSHIP,
WE KNEW THAT WE WERE GOING TO
LIVE FOR GOD.
THEY SAY IT'S FAITH... STRONG
VALUES AND LOVE FOR EACH OTHER
THAT GUIDED THEIR MARRIAGE
OVER THE YEARS AND BLESSED THEM
WITH TWO CHILDREN.
THE CASEYS RECOGNIZE IT WAS THE
LOVINGS WHO PAVED THE
WAY FOR THEIR LIFE TOGETHER. AND
NOW THEY HOPE THEIR STORY AND
OTHERS LIKE IT
HELP OTHER COUPLES. 20:07:45 IF
ONE PERSON CAN BE
HELPED WITH THIS, THAT ONE
PERSON CAN BE A APART OF THE
NETWORK THAT CAN HELP ANOTHER
ONE AND ANOTHER
ONE
NATS OF MOVIE
THE MOVIE LOVING IS NOW PLAYING
AT
THE GRANDIN THEATRE AND OTHER
LOCATIONS.
CHECK YOUR LOCAL MOVIE LISTINGS
FOR
TIMES.