Imagine this: You're driving down the road with your new bride; you've been married for approximately 20 minutes. Everything is going good until all of a sudden, it happens. You see the lights before you hear the siren. Pulling over, you glance around nervously as you watch through the side mirror the cop walking up to your window. You cooperate, yet you are still told to step out of the car. Confused, you ask the officer why he is doing this. And he tells you. You have just driven through South Carolina, a black man with a white woman in the passenger seat.

Seem ridiculous? My grandparents thought so too. The only thing is, both of my grandparents are African American. My grandmother is light skinned, and back then was often mistaken for a white woman. During the years surrounding when my grandparents were happily wed, it...