May 1, 1959, is when the seeds were planted for a movement that today
threatens America’s public schools. On this day the Prince Edward County School
District closed their public schools. This was done with the help of the state
legislature that had lifted a law mandating all children had to attend
schools.
The closing of the schools lasted for 5 years until the Supreme Court
stepped in ruling that what Virginia was trying to do was illegal, especially
in light of the Brown v. Board of Education Decision of 1954.
The Brown decision was a cultural earthquake that shattered “Whites Only”
education across the South. For more than a decade after full integration had
not come to all states, primarily because the states were trl district began
sending White students to private schools. Also, the state and county offered
tax credits and other indirect ways to make sure these private schools were
fully funded and could operate.
The private school provisions were only made for White students though as
these private schools could still practice segregation in opened in demographic
areas that were over 97% White.
These actions drew the attention of national politicians, media, and civil
rights leaders. The spotlight began getting bright with protests and legal
challenges initiated by the NAACP. Then came the documentary/news program “The
Lost Class of 1959”. President Kennedy called Congress’ attention to the outlaw
school district in his speech to them on Civil Rights in 1963. Robert Kennedy
was also bothered by the actions of Prince Edward County saying in a 1963
speech:
“We may observe with much sadness and irony that, outside of Africa,
south of the Sahara, where education is still a difficult challenge, the only
places on earth known not to provide free public education are Communist China,
North Vietnam, Sarawak, Singapore, British Honduras—and Prince Edward County,
Virginia.”
The closing of the schools didn’t just damage education for Black children
in the county but this last stand for segregation forced some families to make
long-term decisions that often led to the separation from the support of
extended family. In other cases it meant children leaving home and going to
live with foster families. The Quaker American Friends placed 70 children in
these foster homes in North Carolina and other states.
Some families just changed counties and several Prince Edward black women,
including former public-school teachers, began grassroots schools in their
homes and churches. All of this was a great balancing act because of the
lawsuits working through the legal system.
In 1961 a federal court launched the first salvo to wreck this ambition plan
when they ruled that no public funds could be used for the White private
academies. Still, the county refused to unlock the schools and so the academies
continued. This did effect some of the rural White families as well because
many could not afford the now-necessary tuition. Racism remained the driving
force. This was shown even more in May of 1964 when the Supreme Court ruled in
Griffin v. County Board of Prince Edward County that the schools had to reopen.
In September, after a five-year hiatus, Prince Edward students returned to
public schools.
The county and state refused to fund the schools as they had before This
underfunding took years to repair but student strikes and the Civil Rights Act
continued to pressure the county and they slowly changed, with the rest of the
country. In the mid-1990s the Martha E. Forrester Council of Women, a group
that included former Moton teachers and students. Bought the former Moton
School and created a museum with a permanent exhibit: “The Moton School Story:
Children of Courage,” which was designed to help provide closure and
understanding for the students who lived through the school closings.
Unfortunately, the ideas of using public funds and tax credits and other
tricks to pay for private schools mostly used by White students were explored
and altered and today there is a national movement that emulates the Prince
Edward County model but in a way that passes laws and many states and school
districts have altered their laws to permit these private schools recreating
some level of segregation and class separation. trying tricks like the Prince
Edward County School District.
Sources:
https://www.searchablemuseum.com/students-on-strike
https://legaltimelines.org/accessible-timeline/students-rights/
https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2013/septemberoctober/feature/massive-resistance-in-small-town
