This Day in History: 1910-06-14

Louisiana’s House of Representatives broadens its ban on interracial marriage by passing legislation, by a vote of 93 to 10, prohibiting Black people and white people from living together under any circumstances. Under the new legislation, cohabitation becomes a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to five years. The bill is signed into the law by Governor Jared Sanders two days later. Like Louisiana, states throughout the country relied on laws banning interracial marriage to maintain a rigid racial caste system. These laws remained in effect until the Supreme Court declared anti-miscegenation statutes unconstitutional in 1967, in Loving v. Virginia. Louisiana did not formally repeal its ban on interracial marriage until five years later, in 1972. Learn more.