Loving

Interracial Intimacy in America and the Threat to White Supremacy

By: Sheryll Cashin

Narrated by: Trei Taylor

The landmark story of how interracial love and marriage changed American history—and continues to alter the landscape of American politics

When Mildred and Richard Loving wed in 1958, they were ripped from their shared bed and taken to court. Their crime: miscegenation, punished by exile from their home state of Virginia. The resulting landmark decision of Loving v. Virginia ended bans on interracial marriage and remains a signature case—the first to use the words “white supremacy” to describe such racism.

Drawing from the earliest chapters in US history, legal scholar Sheryll Cashin reveals the enduring legacy of America’s original sin, tracing how we transformed from a country without an entrenched construction of race to a nation where one drop of nonwhite blood merited exclusion from full citizenship. In vivid detail, she illustrates how the idea of whiteness was created by the planter class of yesterday and is reinforced by today’s power-hungry dog-whistlers to divide struggling whites and people of color, ensuring plutocracy and undermining the common good.

Not just a hopeful treatise on the future of race relations in America, Loving challenges the notion that trickle-down progressive politics is our only hope for a more inclusive society. Accessible and sharp, Cashin reanimates the possibility of a future where interracial understanding serves as a catalyst of a social revolution ending not in artificial color blindness but in a culture where acceptance and difference are celebrated.

©2017 Sheryll Cashin (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A concise, powerful reflection on the 50th anniversary of the landmark case.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A timely and illuminating account of a struggle that lies at the heart of the American story.” —Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder Woman

“In this sweeping history of what was formerly known as ‘miscegenation,’ Sheryll Cashin beautifully unfolds the history of interracial intimacy from the earliest days of the colonies until the current reemergence of the white supremacy movement. At the center of this narrative, Cashin places the Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court case of 1967 which finally overturned all statutes penalizing interracial marriages. Through a wonderfully readable set of stories, including references to popular culture, Cashin provides an accessible, essential, and ultimately hopeful view of racial relationships in America.” —Henry Louis Gates Jr.

New Jim Crow of Interracial Relationships

Reads like the New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. well read and full of references for further investigation.

Interesting read for interracial couples

It was a pretty good book. I felt that the majority was great I just wish there would have been a little more on the reality of Pocahontas life with John Smith.

Just gonna buy the actual book

Would you try another book from Sheryll Cashin and/or Trei Taylor?

Yes, from Sheryll Cashin

What did you like best about this story?

This book has alot of gems regarding race relations in America and also focuses on discriminatory problems other people of color faced as well.

How could the performance have been better?

Just needs a better narrator. It does not feel like I am listening to a story, but a dull news report.

Was Loving worth the listening time?

No, buy the book.