One of the great things about 2Tone was the way it brought people together. The marriage of black and white music and black and white musicians to create something new has been its greatest legacy. I believe its important to celebrate the small and large cultural changes we have achieved as well as the people who have lead the charge.
It was against the law for blacks and whites to marry in several states for many years. That changed 41 years ago today, with the landmark Supreme Court ruling Loving v. Virginia, which legalized interracial marriage nationwide. On June 12, 1967, the nation's highest court voted unanimously to overturn the conviction of Richard and Mildred Loving, a young interracial couple from rural Caroline County, Va. That decision struck down the anti-miscegenation laws — written to prevent the mixing of the races — that were on the books at the time in more than a dozen states, including Virginia.
There was an excellent piece on NPR this morning about the Loving's that is worth a listen/read. Hard to believe its taken us so long to get to where we are today and harder to believe we still have a long way to go. Nonetheless as we are on the cusp on electing our first bi-racial U.S. President, the power of 2Tone carries on in many ways.
I'll be back with more music posts this weekend.
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