Before the Loving vs. Virginia case was ruled on in 1967 which said that the State had no jurisdiction on marriage on the topic of race, for Loving it was if a Black woman could marry a White man. For these types of couples there was no love under a grand oak tree in the south. But in this story Simon, a Black man and Andrea, a White woman found themselves meeting on a neighborhood street as he delivered groceries and she failed miserably at hopscotch. But it was in this chance encounter that the two talked, laughed and decided that they would go against everything and begin to meet each other in secret at a large oak tree. It is there that their love was built from stories of their day-to-day life to arguments about if the world would ever catch up to their love, they held tight to each other. But after decades of hiding, they decided to show up at the local courthouse and try to get married in a day and time when a Black man could not legally marry a White woman. Moreover, the fear of physical harm was a constant running through their minds. Because they knew their love was deeper than the law, their families or the government and though it may cost them their lives they would rather die married from love than to live apart and continue to be hidden. A story about breaking the color barriers of love, fighting for what is right, and realizing that there are things out there that people are willing to die for and for this couple it was the ability to call each other “husband and wife.”
*Script calls for one Black and one White actor.