<p>Once upon a time I read a newspaper article mentioning some sociological survey about how often Americans have a meal with someone of a different “race.” For a split second, I asked myself, “I wonder how often I do,” before remembering that my wife of twenty-five years is, in the federal government classifications, a different “race” from me, so any time I have a meal at home I’m sharing the meal with someone of a different race. I don’t think of things in such a way–to me, we’re all human beings here. </p>
<p>Recently there was a news report on National Public Radio about the death of Mildred Loving, the female plaintiff in the case Loving v. Virginia, the case before the United States Supreme Court that held state bans on “interracial” marriage to be unconstitutional. Now the anniversary of that court decision is celebrated as Loving Day, </p>
<p>[Loving</a> Day: Celebrate the Legalization of Interracial Couples](<a href=“http://www.lovingday.org/index.html]Loving”>http://www.lovingday.org/index.html) </p>
<p>and I heard about that as part of the news report about Mildred Loving. I don’t see any indication on the Loving Day website that my town has any organized celebration of Loving Day, but I suppose my family can come up with some way to celebrate. Minnesota, I’m proud to say, never ever had a territorial or state ban on “interracial” marriages. We’ve always known here that we are all part of the human race, and I’ve read that Minnesota just might have more “interracial” couples than any state but Hawaii. </p>
<p>Here’s to all of you lovers out there. Have a happy June 12th.</p>