Loving Indian Style: Maintaining Racial Caste and Tribal Sovereignty Through Sexual Assimilation

Abstract

Scholars have generally characterized Loving v. Virginia as a case about the line separating whites from blacks. But within the subtext of Loving there is an additional narrative about the line separating blacks from Indians. State laws governing miscegenation had a profound impact on tribal law and the practices of tribal people by indirectly regulating interracial relations between certain nonwhite groups of people and rendering blacks as undesirable partners for marriage.

Keywords: tribal sovereignty, racial caste, sexual assimilation, Native American

JEL Classification: K3