Final answer:
Anti-miscegenation laws are the historical laws that prohibited interracial relationships, which were prominent during the Jim Crow era but were overruled by the Loving v. Virginia case in 1967.
Step-by-step explanation:
The laws that prohibited the mixing of racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, or sexual contact were known as anti-miscegenation laws. These enforced racial segregation during the Jim Crow era in the United States, particularly in the South. A landmark event occurred with the Loving v. Virginia case in 1967, where the U.S. Supreme Court declared all laws banning interracial marriage unconstitutional. Before that, relationships between different racial groups, such as whites and blacks or blacks and Indians, were often socially frowned upon and could lead to legal repercussions. Discretion and luck were sometimes the only means by which such relationships could evade societal and legal penalties.