THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 18, 1995 TAG: 9506180040
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CLAUDINE R. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Mirta Williams met her soul mate in Argentina. After a brief courtship, Mirta and Donell married in 1982 and moved to his land, the United States.
For Mirta, culture shock had a hard edge.
The young couple had problems eating in restaurants, finding an apartment or just walking down the street. Passers-by looked, pointed and stared.
Mirta is Argentine, Donell is African American.
``I couldn't understand why people would harass others just because of the color of their skin,'' Mirta said.
Although interracial marriages were nothing new in Mirta's homeland, they were rare in United States, she said.
Fast forward to Saturday at Lakewood Park, where the Williamses joined other members of the Interracial Connection, a local organization, to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the 1967 Supreme Court ruling that struck down Virginia's anti-miscegenation law, which forbade two people of different races to marry.
The case was brought to trial by Richard Loving, a white construction worker, and his wife, Mildred, who is part African American and part Native American. The couple married in Washington in 1958 and moved to Fredericksburg, where they were arrested.
The Lovings were sentenced to a yearlong prison term, which would be suspended if they left the state. The couple returned to Washington and began a legal battle to have the miscegenation law overturned.
Not that long ago, interracial marriages were not a right, said Connie Hannah, a member of Interracial Connection.
``Now we don't notice things as much as we did when we first started out,'' said Douglas C. Barner Sr.
Barner met his wife, Pat, in Japan. They moved to America, and have been living in Norfolk for nearly 23 years.
``When we first got married we went to get our license and the woman said, `Well I think you ought to bring your wife here with you,' '' Barner said. ``I pointed to Pat and said, well, that's my wife.''
The Barners say they have learned to live with the attention that comes with being an interracial couple.
``When people stare at us we just say, `Hey, they are looking at us because we are such a nice-looking couple,' '' Douglas Barner said.
Events such as Saturday's picnic have helped Mirta Williams' sons DJ, 7, and Sean, 6, cope with being in an interracial family.
``The interracial club has made the experience a lot more positive for them,'' Mirta said. ``They see other children like them and they see people for who they are and not their color.''
Her marriage, she said, was worth every bit of culture shock.
``I wouldn't trade him for all the money or the GQ men on Earth,'' Mirta said. ``I met my soul mate and it has nothing to do with color.'' MEMO: For information on the Interracial Connection call Connie Smith at
622-9260. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MOTOYA NAKAMURA/Staff
Sean, 6, son of Donell and Mirta Williams, was one of several
children of interracial couples at a picnic Saturday at Lakewood
Park held by Interracial Connection, which gathers annually to mark
the end of the state's anti-miscegenation law in 1967.
by CNB