RACES: The Person of One's Choice

Laws prohibiting the intermarriage of whites and Negroes are on the books of 30 states,* have survived every legal test. Last week one of those states changed its mind. California's ban on mixed marriages was declared unconstitutional by a 4-to-3 decision of the state's Supreme Court. Marriage, said the majority opinion, is a fundamental right of free men; and the right to marry includes the right to marry the person of one's choice.

The decision also declared the law contrary "to the fundamental principles of Christianity." This point might become the basis for attacks on other states' laws. The Roman...