Couples share stories of love 50 years after Supreme Court said laws prohibiting interracial marriage were unconstitutional

Published 12:40 pm Thursday, September 7, 2017

DALTON, Ga. — Charles “Chuck” Meyers admits it wasn’t love at first sight when he met Peggy Washington nearly 38 years ago. Meyers was a maintenance worker at an Ohio apartment complex when Washington approached him about a job. It wasn’t long before she was hired to help clean apartments and take care of the grounds.

“She even helped me carry refrigerators up three flights of stairs,” Meyers recalls. That was in February 1979. By July of that year the two were dating, and on Nov. 20 they got married. 

Meyers was a 24-year-old white, single, childless man and Washington a 34-year-old black single mother of five. None of that mattered to Meyers.

“When you meet someone and get to know them you catch feelings and know she’s the one for you,” he said.

In 1959, Mildred Loving, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were sentenced to one year in prison after leaving their Virginia home to get married in Washington, D.C. Their marriage violated Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924 which prohibited marriage between people classified as white and non-white. Their sentences were suspended as part of a plea bargain as long as they left Virginia and did not return together for 25 years.

“Interracial couples were prohibited in Virginia, but not Washington,” said Dalton attorney David J. Blevins. “They went back to D.C. and lived together as man and wife.”

But eventually the Lovings challenged the Virginia law in court. On June 12, 1967, in a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional state laws that forbid interracial marriages.

“That decision was huge for individuals,” Blevins said. “The Virginia statute did not prohibit any race from marrying any other race except white people.” 

Fast forward 12 years after the ruling. Peggy Washington said she knew Chuck Meyers would be the man she married. She had thought that after her children’s father she was done with relationships.

“I was through with men, but Chuck changed that,” she said. 

Before getting married, Peggy said the pastor asked if they were of the same faith.

“He said I don’t have a problem marrying anybody of different races, but you have to be of the same religion,” she said. 

For Chuck, race was never an issue. He was born and raised in Burlington, Ky., a small town of about 350 people, 10 miles from Cincinnati where Peggy was raised.

“Where I’m from everybody got along like a family. I was raised to love everyone,” he said.

The couple said they have had few problems. Chuck recalls one time when he and Mary Ann, Peggy’s 13-year-old daughter, were playing outside. She ran down an alley and he chased her. A group of black men noticed them and asked if there was a problem. To which Mary Ann replied, “That’s just my daddy, don’t worry about him, he’s OK.” 

Peggy said one thing that stood out was Chuck’s relationship with her children. In 1985 the family moved to Dalton. Chuck and Peggy got jobs at World Carpet. Both are now retired.  

They said It was in Dalton that they noticed some people had issues with their marriage. Chuck said a white lady once asked why he married a black woman.

“I told her when you love someone and feel good about them, you marry them,” he recalled.  

Kelley Washington, another of Peggy’s daughters, said she saw “negativity” when they moved to Dalton also.

“It was the way people looked at my parents or smart remarks they made,” she said. She said overall the family adjusted well.

“My dad wasn’t a pushover,” she said. “He’s a man who stood his ground and didn’t mind letting the world know he loves my mom.”

Peggy said Chuck is her best friend.

“I’ll say something stupid and he’ll say something stupid, then we both laugh, we just get along,” she said.

Chuck said Peggy is one of a kind.

“She’s like a big kid at heart, when I see her smile and laugh that’s a joy to me, because I know she’s happy,” he said.

Kirk and Sylvia Moore

Many times Kirk Moore hung out at the pool area of Park Canyon Apartments, as did Sylvia Trevino, but not once did the two cross paths, until one fateful day in May of 2000.

Sylvia, a native of Monterrey, Mexico, was a teacher with the Georgia Project, which sought to address issues surrounding Dalton’s growing Hispanic student population. The couple met before she went to Mexico for the summer.

While in Mexico, Kirk called her daily, Sylvia said. Kirk laughs as he recalls the $1,000 phone bill he had.

“At the time neither one of us had computers so I did what I had to do,” he said.

When Sylvia returned to Dalton in the fall they decided to pursue a relationship.

“I think God puts people in your life because he sees something missing,” Kirk said. “She’s the better half of me, she balances me and makes me a better person.” 

Sylvia said meeting Kirk had to be an act of God.

“I was living in Park Canyon for a whole year and we didn’t meet until May when I was leaving for the summer,” she said. 

Interracial relationships weren’t new to Kirk. Sylvia, however, had never had a boyfriend and before Kirk said marriage was not something she wanted.

“I was very happy with my life, then I met him and knew some things were missing,” she said. “When I came to Dalton I had a job in Mexico and one here. It was very easy for me if I wasn’t happy to go back home and vice versa.”

The couple got married on Oct. 24, 2003. Sylvia is an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) department lead at Dawnville Elementary School. Kirk works at Shaw Industries as a business development analyst.

Sylvia said she never told her parents about Kirk’s race.

“That was not part of the equation, they loved him,” she said.

Kirk said his family didn’t have an issue with Sylvia’s race.

“They know my personality and that I look at the character of a person, not the color, and I have friends from different walks of life,” he said.

A Navy veteran, Kirk said the military was a great experience for him.

“You’re with all different types of people so you learn how to adapt,” he said. 

Kirk said he’s never had anyone say anything to him about being married to a Hispanic.

“You can feel it when eyes are on you, though, maybe at an all-black event, the first thing people do is look at us,” he said.  

He said the marriage came at the right time.

“One of the things that allowed our marriage to be so successful is we didn’t rush into anything,” he said.

Both said they had great examples. Kirk’s parents were married for 45 years and Sylvia’s for 49.

“We had stable units at home so we were able to take notes from that and see how a family should be,” Kirk said. 

In the last few years Kirk said the family, which includes 10-year-old daughter Zoe, has gotten back into church.

“That made our relationship a lot smoother in all aspects, financially, socially and spiritually,” he said.  

Sylvia said she chose to live in this country and more specifically Dalton.

“I didn’t have to do it, but I’m very happy and I know this is what God meant for my life,” she said.