Introducing Multiracial Heritage Week

Welcome to Multiracial Heritage Week!

Multiracial Heritage Week is a special week celebrated every year from June 7 to June 14 and it is significant because it includes Loving Day on June 12, the anniversary of the landmark civil rights decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia. In this historic decision, the court ruled that laws banning interracial marriage violated the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Although Loving v. Virginia happened in 1969, for those of us at The Color of Us, and for those in the multiracial community, the recognition that it has only been fifty-five years since Loving v. Virginia is significant, and it makes it all the more important to celebrate the love of Mildred and Richard Loving and the progress of the multiracial community.

Although Multiracial Heritage Week is not celebrated federally, there are many states that do celebrate this week. This year, because of the diligence and perseverance of the founder of The Color of Us, Arizona, by order of the proclamation of the Governor of Arizona, Douglas A. Ducey, is officially the twentieth state in the United States to proclaim June 7-June 14, 2022 as Multiracial Heritage Week. This will be the first of many years for Arizona to celebrate Multiracial Heritage Week and we are proud to honor this week and celebrate the richness of our diversity and the power of inclusion.

However, celebrating Multiracial Heritage Week is much more than proclamations, social media posts, videos, or podcasts. Multiracial Heritage Week is about acceptance, inclusion, and representation. It is about seeing and accepting oneself fully, as well as being seen and accepted within the larger society. It’s about feeling whole and complete and included. It’s about advocating for representation, finding, and using our voices to speak our truth and share our talents and it’s about honoring those who paved the way before us.

So Happy Multiracial Heritage Week from everyone at The Color of Us. The multiracial community is big and there is room for everyone. We could not be more grateful to be part of such a supportive, accepting, and loving community.

Love is Love.