Which case is most directly associated with the rights of interracial marriage?

• A. Plessy v. Ferguson
• B. Loving v. Virginia
• C. Brown v. Board of Education
• D. Engel v. Vitale

Answer: (B)

Interracial marriage rights hinge on marriage being a fundamental liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process and equal protection principles. Loving v. Virginia is the landmark ruling that struck down state anti-miscegenation laws, holding that laws banning interracial marriage violate the core freedom to marry and discriminate on the basis of race. It established that marriage rights must be available to all couples, regardless of race, and that states cannot use racial classifications to deny that right. The other cases you see in the list deal with different issues—racial segregation in public facilities (Plessy v. Ferguson), education segregation (Brown v. Board of Education), and school-sponsored prayer (Engel v. Vitale)—so they aren’t about interracial marriage.