It was 2 a.m. Richard and I were fast asleep in our bedroom. Suddenly someone banged on the door. We were shocked to see an angry police officer standing there.
　“Who is that woman?” the officer said to my husband, pointing at me. “She’s my wife, sir,” Richard answered. “That’s illegal!” the police officer shouted.
　I am black, and Richard is white. At that time, marriage between white people and black people was unusual in the United States. In fact, Virginia was one of the states where such marriages were not legal. Because of this, Richard and I had traveled to Washington, D.C. to get married.
　We were arrested at our house in Virginia because somebody had reported our marriage to the police. Now we had to make a difficult decision: go to jail for a year, or leave Virginia for 25 years. I was expecting a baby, so we chose to move.