'The Miscegenation Law in California Was Overturned'
Mrs.
Veronica
Marshall-Varela,
Chandler,
Arizona
In 1947, there were many states that did not allow marriages between whites and nonwhites. These states had miscegenation laws. California was one of them.
My father, attorney Daniel G. Marshall of Los Angeles, decided to challenge the law in his state. Dad, of Irish and English heritage, felt the miscegenation law was unconstitutional as well as immoral and adverse to his religious beliefs. Obtaining a marriage license was based on a county clerk's decision as to whether the parties requesting the license were of the same hue: light enough or dark enough to marry one another.
At that time, Latinos were deemed to be white. Their designation as such was political and dated back to the time of the Californios. Californios were families of Mexican heritage who owned large ranches in early California. In order to obtain land that was held by the Californios, Anglos intermarried into the Californios' families.
Andrea Perez was a first-generation Latina Californian from Mexico. She wished to marry her long-time boyfriend, Sylvester Davis. Sylvester was black, a veteran of World War II, and employed by Lockheed Aircraft. When Andrea and Sylvester applied for a marriage license, their application was rejected. The county clerk deemed that Andrea was white and could not enter into a marriage with Sylvester.
She went to her former employer, Dorothy Marshall, and asked if Marshall's husband would represent her and her fiance. Dan Marshall readily agreed.
Dad eventually took the case to the Supreme Court of California. He initially argued the case on religious grounds, saying that the plaintiffs were being denied a sacrament of their church and thus were being denied religious freedom. The swing vote on the court was held by Justice Roger Traynor, who believed that race was inherently indeterminate. He believed there was one race, the human race. On this basis, he argued that Andrea and Sylvester should be allowed to marry.
On October 1, 1948, the miscegenation law in California was overturned. Sylvester and Andrea married and had three children. Their union lasted 52 years, until Andrea's death.
Dad continued to practice law. Despite no support from the hierarchy of his church, he was a founding member of the Catholic Interracial Council of Los Angeles. He and my mother devoted much of their lives to fighting racial and social injustice. His choice of clients and causes, including Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, wreaked financial havoc on his law practice and made him somewhat of a pariah in our community.
