Respect where it's due: BM/WW IR in History

Sir Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams
Married in 1948



Seretse Khama was born in 1921, and is the son of the Chief of the Bangwato Tribe and ruler of the Bechuanaland (a protectorate by Great Britain) later known as Botswana. When his father died in 1925, Seretse’s uncle, assumed the role as Seretse’s guardian and Acting Chief. His uncle sent Seretse to England so he could continue his education. It was while he was in London, when studying for his bar examinations, that he met Ruth Williams. They shared their enthusiasm for jazz and eventually romance ensued and they were married a year later, in 1948. The interracial marriage sparked a furor among both the apartheid government of South Africa and the tribal elders. Seretse was at first banned from the chieftainship and the territory for breaking tribal custom, but was later re-affirmed and eventually became Chief. Because of the apartheid system in South Africa, the country could not afford to have an interracial couple ruling just across their border, so pressure was put on to have Seretse removed from his chieftainship. In 1951, the British government launched a parliamentary enquiry. They somehow proved that Seretse was unfit to be chief, and exiled Seretse and his wife Ruth from Bechuanaland. In 1956, Ruth and Seretse were allowed to return to Bechuanaland as private citizens, after he had renounced the tribal throne. In 1961, Khama founded the Nationalist Bechuanaland Democratic Party and became Prime Minister of Bechuanaland. In 1966, Botswana gained its independence and Seretse Khama became the country’s first President. Ruth (Lady Khama) was a very influential and politically active first lady during her husband’s tenure as president, from 1966 until his death in 1980. In 1966, Queen Elizabeth appointed Khama Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Interesting Fact: Botswana was among the world’s poorest countries but during Seretse Khama’s tenure as president, Botswana had the fastest growing economy in the world. Khama instituted strong measures against corruption and reinvested money into infrastructure, health and education. In 2009, Seretse and Ruth’s fist son, Ian, won a landslide victory and became the fourth President of Botswana. Their younger son, Tshekedi , was elected as a parliamentarian.

Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter
Married in 1958



This is at the number one spot because this couple’s marriage overturned state laws in the United States that prohibited interracial marriages. Richard and Mildred were from Virginia and met when he was 17 years old and she was 11. As they grew older, their friendship blossomed into romance. When Mildred was 18 she became pregnant so the couple decided to travel to Washington, D.C. to be married. Five weeks after their wedding, they were awakened at 2 a.m. by police and arrested for being married to one another. In 1959, they pleaded guilty to the charge against them and were sentenced to one year in jail. The sentence was suspended on the condition that the Lovings leave Virginia and not return for 25 years. The Lovings moved to Washington, D.C., and faced housing discrimination, compounded by deep unhappiness about not living close to their families. Mildred wrote a letter to Attorney General, Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy then forwarded the letter to the American Civil Liberties Union. After many setbacks throughout a nine-year period, their case was heard before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1967, The Supreme Court decided unanimously in their favor. Richard later said “For the first time, I could put my arm around Mildred and publicly call her my wife.” In 1975, Richard Loving died at age 41, when a drunken driver struck the couple’s car. Mildred Loving lost her right eye in the same accident. Mildred died of pneumonia in 2008, at the age of 68. The couple had three children, eight grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.Interesting Fact: An annual celebration called Loving Day is held on June 12, the anniversary of the 1967 United States Supreme Court decision. Many organizations sponsor annual parties across the country, with Lovingday.org providing courtroom history of anti-miscegenation laws, as well as offering testimonials and resources for interracial couples.

Barack Obama, Sr. and Ann Dunham
Married in 1961



I wasn’t going to include this couple in the list because their relationship was so short, but I know there would be many comments asking about them so I decided to include it as a bonus. In 1960, after Ann Dunham graduated from high school in Mercer Island, Washington, her family moved to Honolulu. Dunham then enrolled at the University of Hawaii. Obama Sr. was 23 years old and had come to Hawaii to pursue his education, and was the university’s first African foreign student, leaving behind a pregnant wife and infant son in Kenya. Dunham met Obama Sr. at the University while attending a Russian language class. When Dunham became pregnant they were married on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Obama Sr.’s wife in Kenya later said she had granted her consent for him to marry a second wife, in keeping with their countries customs. On August 4, 1961, at the age of 18, Dunham gave birth to her first child, Barack Obama II. Dunham took one month old Barack to Washington State where she took classes at the University of Washington from September 1961 to June 1962. Barack Sr. continued his studies in Hawaii until he graduated in 1962, and then left for Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he would begin graduate study at Harvard. Dunham returned to Honolulu to resume her education with her parents helping to raise Barack. Dunham then filed for a divorce in 1964, which was uncontested. In 1971, Obama Sr. came to Hawaii to visit his 10 year old son, Barack. This would be the last time he would see him. Obama Sr.’s life fell into drinking and poverty back in Kenya. After a terrible car accident he lost both legs and subsequently lost his job. In 1982, at the age of 46, he was killed in another car accident in Nairobi. Obama Sr. had 7 children. In 1992, Ann, who was remarried to Lolo Soetoro, finally finished her doctoral dissertation and received her Ph.D. in anthropology. Two years later she complained of stomach pains. Months later, she was diagnosed with ovarian and uterine cancer. She died on November 7, 1995, at the age of 52. Ann Dunham had 2 children, Barack and a daughter, Maya, with Lolo Soetoro. Interesting Fact: Following Ann Dunham’s memorial service at the University of Hawaii, Obama and his half sister Maya spread their mother’s ashes in the Pacific Ocean at Lanai Lookout on the south side of Oahu. Obama scattered the ashes of his grandmother (Madelyn Dunham) who died November 2, 2008, in the same spot weeks after his election to the presidency.

http://listverse.com/2011/01/25/10-fascinating-interracial-marriages-in-history/

 

bump*

this thread was made a "sticky" by the webmaster years ago

shout out to my girl silver...you are missed!

please put your posts on IR throughout history here and lets keep this thread going

 

;-)

 

Silvercosma did a great job in the listing of interracial couples past and present. One note about George Schuyler,his wife took her own life in 1969. She was unable to deal with her daughter's passing two years before. There is a new book about him published recently.

 

I don't think it's fear, I think a lot of Black men who say this, genuinely believe it. Don't assume that Black men come from a position of fear when the express their opinions about their race and who they feel can play a role in it's advancement.
I disagree with them, but I don't think they fear my relationships, they could get white chicks too if they wanted them.

 

Very informative and it's wonderful to see long lasting relationships between BM and WW.

 

The Moors In Europe

http://atlantablackstar.com/2014/06...african-presence-medieval-renaissance-europe/

 

This is interesting. Ms. West was also rumored to have had relations with Duke Ellington, Joe Louis, Lincoln Perry and perhaps others. She also had an infatuation from an early age with Vaudeville star Bert Williams (1874-1922) and also admired him as an artist. He did quite often perform in blackface as many of the performers of all races did in the day and seems so incomprehensible these days. But I just wanted to add this little tidbit about the incomparable Mae West :smt038

 

Mae West, did the film Myra Breckinridge with Raquel Welch(she and West did not get along). She sang a music number called "You've Got To Taste All Of The Fruit" while black and white male dancers paraded around her. She did her thing and she didn't care because the rest of the world wasn't in bed with her.

 

There was a tv biopic about Mae West in the early 1980's. Mae West was portrayed by actress Ann Jillian. Ann Jillian was a very attractive and curvaceous blonde woman who gained some fame from the ABC tv show It's A Living with Susan Sullivan(who did the voice of Wonder Woman's queen mother in episodes of Justice League and many other films and shows). As a child, Jillian was on an episode of The Twilight Zone called Mute. She played an orphaned girl whose parents, wanting to disassociate from the rest of the world by communicating silently with others who also do the same thing, puts this burden on their children. The little girl is the sole survivor of a house fire that took the lives of her family. She is adopted by a couple, portrayed by Arthur Franz(Invaders From Mars and other films) and Natalie Schaeffer( Mrs. Lovey Howell from Gilligan's Island). Jillian also provided her voice in the 1970's Hanna-Barbera cartoon Sealab:2020.

 

I seem to recall that biopic and Twilight Zone episode. Ann Jillian is another hottie!

 

There was also another TV biopic around that time about Jayne Mansfield starring Loni Anderson. Jayne on left and Loni as Jayne on right.

 

I saw that one, too with Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mickey Hargitay. I think that one came around the time of Mae West's death in 1979. Loni Anderson was perfectly cast as Jayne Mansfield, she had her cheekbones and eyes. Loni Anderson was the IT girl in the early 80's. Before Anderson, it was Cheryl Ladd.

 

True,G I saw that TV movie back in the 80's Anderson and Schwarzenegger were perfectly cast as Mansfield and Hargitay. No doubt he and the former Mr.Universe were friends before Hargitay's death.

 

Arnold did Mickey's narration in the biopic. I didn't think that Mickey Hargitay spoke with a German accent. I had seen some of Mickey's early films, like Arnold who did Hercules In New York, Hercules Goes Bananas and The Villain with Kirk Douglas(an homage to the Looney Tunes cartoons), Mickey did films like The Bloody Pit Of Horror and(I think) Lady Frankenstein. The bodybuilding community is somewhat a close-knit one, considering it was bodybuilders-turned-actors like Steve Reeves and Reg Parks(who both played Hercules and Goliath) who inspired many guys to become bodybuilders. Sometimes lifelong friendship can occur. Sometimes, not. I have no doubt that Arnold and Mickey were friends before he died. I saw Mickey in an episode of Law & Order: SVU where he had shared screen time with his daughter Mariska.

 

WoW, good one! I didn't know that Olaudah Equiano married an englishwoman. I just know the Brother for his distinction in writing his autobiography.

Props due Ellahara.

 

Wow. Reading this made me realized I didn't know the background of Obama's parents AT ALL & him growing up, other than he had a Kenyan Father & he was born in Hawaii. I didn't even know if they were alive or not.