Once upon a Jim Crow time, a black woman and white man fell in love, married, and pleaded guilty to violating state miscegenation law.

The Lovings were convicted by a judge who wrote, “Almighty God … did not intend for the races to mix.”

Mildred Loving, whose challenge to Virginia’s ban on interracial marriage led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling that upheld her marriage, died on May 2. She was 68.

The Supreme Court ruling, in 1967, overturned the last laws banning racially mixed marriages in 17 states.

"I think marrying who you want is a right no man should have anything to do with,’ Loving said in a 1967 segment on ABC News. ‘It's a God-given right."

“Though the decision in the Loving case struck down miscegenation laws, Southern states were sometimes slow to change their constitutions; Alabama became the last state to do so, in 2000,” according to The Times.

40 years after Loving v. Virginia, white approval of interracial marriage has increased from four percent in 1958 to 77 percent in 2007, according to a recent Gallop poll.

“Without a doubt, the total number of interracial marriages increased as a result of Loving, from approximately 150,000 in 1960 to 1.46 million in 2000,” writes Professor Kevin Mallard of BlackProf.com.

"Interracial relationships are still taboo in our American society - although they are rising in popularity in the U.S.,” says Multimixx CEO Nikki Doughty.

“The complexities of historical racial divides, current tensions and ugly misconceptions continue to offer many challenges, creating a very real need to host interracial social events.” Through social networking sites like Multimixx, singles who date interracially can Meetup.

“Despite progressive posturing and harmonic celebration, mixed marriages only account for about 4% of all marriages in the United States,” Professor Mallard says. “Of this percentage, most of these marriages occurred between Asians and whites.”

Census data showed 117,000 black women were married to white men in 2006, up from 95,000 in 2000.

Mrs. Loving stopped giving interviews, but last year issued a statement on the 40th anniversary of the announcement of the Supreme Court:

I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people's religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people civil rights.

"I want (people) to remember her as being strong and brave yet humble — and believed in love," Peggy Fortune said of her mother.

In addition to Fortune, Loving is survived by a son, Sidney of Tappahannock, Va.; eight grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.