The New York Times ran a piece last week about the 1967 court case aptly named Loving v. Virginia, and indeed, it was obvious the state in question (“Virginia is for CERTAIN lovers”?) was trying to control whom its citizens could and could not love — or, at least, whom they could or could not marry.

The case centered on Mildred and Richard Loving, a black woman and a white man arrested and banished (like Romeo in Act III!) from Virginia for the “crime” of being married. It’s odd to think a country that may very well elect its first black president once — not that long ago — had laws prohibiting interracial marriage in 40 states. The Supreme Court ruling in the Loving case, according to the Times, “underscored the stupidity and unfairness of segregation” and “drew back the curtain on the secret history of race in the South.” Mildred Loving, who died this month, maintained that the two were married because they were in love, and chose not to fight a civil rights battle. Looks like their love ultimately won the war.