Many of those who could not intermarry in the south moved to the north. I was born in Coatesville Pennsylvania, where the half-black daughter of Strom Thurmond was raised. The town I was raised in was comprised of many mixed raced people from the South, mostly Virginia and South Carolina. There was not a large influx of people there from North Carolina. My mother told me who was who, and why they had left the south. Many of the children were shipped north with relatives, who I thought were their parents. Later I found out that they were mixed raced and left to avoid persecution (this was during the 1950's). My own Great Grandfather (whose father was white) left South Carolina after the Civil War, under the threat of death. 

So it was no small feat for these two to declare their love, and not back down. There were tremendous odds against them. If this is the land of the free, then who you marry should be your own free choice. I remember seeing a movie about them, and it really touched my heart. 

They are the kind of people I choose to revere.

Anita 

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