The Life Of Mildred Delores Jeter And Musiel Byrd Jeter

Mildred Delores Jeter was born in Central Point, Virginia on June 22, 1939. Mildred’s parents were Theoliver Jeter and Musiel Byrd Jeter. Mildred Loving was of African American, European and Native American origin, specifically from the Cherokee and Rappahannock tribes. Mildred s family had lived in the area around Central Point, Virginia for a long time, where blacks and whites mixed freely with little racial conflict even at the peak of the Jim Crow era. Mildred was a shy woman who became a reluctant activist in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s when she and her husband, Richard Loving, successfully challenged Virginia s ban on interracial marriage. Mildred didn’t want to become an activist in the Civil Rights Movement, because†¦show more content†¦The sheriff cruelly stated that the marriage certificate held no power in their district. Virginia’s law in fact prevented black and white citizens from getting married out of the state and then returning to live within the state. Richard ended up spending only night in jail, while Mildred spent several more nights there while pregnant. The couple eventually pleaded guilty to breaking the Virginia law. The couple s one-year sentences and charges would both be dropped, but only under one condition. Under the condition the couple was commanded to leave the state and not return together for 25 years. The Loving’s followed the orders. The couple paid their c ourt fees and relocated to Washington, D.C. where they got married. When the couple relocated to Washington, D.C. they had three children named Donald, Sidney, and Peggy. Mildred and Richard occasionally made separate return visits to Virginia to see friends and family. Yet the two also secretly made trips to their home state together and eventually secretly lived in Virginia again with their kids despite the risk of detainment. By the year of 1963, the Loving’s decided that they have had enough, with Mildred bitterly unhappy over living in a city and completely fed up when her son was hit by a car. The Civil Rights movement was developing into real