City of Albany
Proclamation
IN RECOGNITION OF LOVING DAY – JUNE 12, 2021
WHEREAS, Mildred and Richard Loving were arrested in 1958 for violating Virginia’s
felony law prohibiting interracial marriage; and
WHEREAS, the Loving family was convicted of violating the law and given a suspended
sentence provided they did not return to their home in the Commonwealth of Virginia as a couple
for 25 years; and
WHEREAS, the Loving family did not back down but took their case through many levels
of the justice system where their appeal was denied every time. Eventually their case was argued
before the Supreme Court of the United States, where their victory created a landmark civil rights
victory; and
WHEREAS, Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the opinion, writing that antimiscegenation
laws “deprive the Lovings of liberty” and that the “freedom to marry has long been
recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness”; and
WHEREAS, Loving v Virginia (1967) ended all laws prohibiting interracial marriage
nationwide, paving the way for all consenting adults to marry the ones they love; and
WHEREAS, an annual celebration known as Loving Day, begun by Ken Tanabe in 2004,
is held on June 12 in communities throughout the nation to commemorate and celebrate the
anniversary of the 1967 Supreme Court decision; and
WHEREAS, our country, state, and region are moving forward in the 21st Century as a
multiracial and multicultural society; and
WHEREAS, the City of Albany joins other communities to find a common vision from
our interwoven past to build am antiracist society for the benefit of our collective future.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT PROCLAIMED, that the Albany City Council does
hereby declare June 12, 2021 as Loving Day in the City of Albany and invites everyone to
recognize this day as a celebration of multiculturalism and to reflect on the Loving family and all
of the pioneers who have and will continue to fight for the civil right to love.
Date: June 7, 2021
(Signed) GE’NELL GARY, MBA – MAYOR
City of Albany Proclamation No. 2021-16
