Loving v. Virginia

No court case was ever more aptly named: Loving v. Virginia was the landmark case that made legal marriage between people of different races--and it was decided in 1967!
You can read more about what I was going on about in class at this wikipedia page
If you follow the link to "Racial Integrity Act" you will see a short bit about the awful Mr. Plecker I was talking about.

Eugenics was an awful pseudo-science, we now know. And here is a connection to another Core text: it grew out of Darwin's theories. But it is a misuse, I believe, of Darwin's scientific observations and theories. Read these pages, and you can decide for yourself.

I also want to point out an assumption that had to be made in all of these "color-line" distinctions: not only that there are differences between races, but that such a thing as race even exists! I mean, Darwin would say we are all one species. In fact, none of us has "pdeigree papaers" that tell who are parents are and where they are from, all the way back to--when? So the way race got designated was either by someone like Plecker making arbitrary decisions, or as in the case of Kirby v. Kirby:

The Arizona Supreme Court judged Mrs. Kirby’s race by observing her physical characteristics and determined that she was of mixed race, thereby granting Mr. Kirby’s annulment

...judging by "looks."