In my eyes, one of the most tragic and ridiculous events of the entire civil rights movement in the United States took place in Prince Edward County, Virginia, between 1959 and 1964. Probably you’ve not heard this story unless you’re familiar with the civil rights movement. But it says so much about racial hatred and fears in the US historically.
Today’s story begins in 1954. In that year, the US Supreme Court issued its landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision. This was the earthshaking court decision that declared segregated schools unconstitutional. (They violated the 14th Amendment, which guarantees everyone equal protection of the laws.) Throughout the South, including Prince Edward County, segregated schools had been a way of life for decades. Because of their racism and fears of miscegenation, southerners were not about to give up segregated schools without a fight.
So, southerners tried to evade desegregation in every way possible. They attempted lawsuits, defiance, and trying to find loopholes in the court’s decision. All these responses ultimately failed. So, some school districts simply shut down rather than integrate their schools. Prince Edward County’s schools were among them. Between 1959 and 1964, Prince Edward County closed its public schools. Yes. You read that right. For five school years Prince Edward County had no public schools.
What About the Children of Prince Edward County?
Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face, right? But there’s much more to the story. Just because public schools closed didn’t mean no education took place. You see, white Virginians immediately began creating private schools to compensate. They founded these schools in businesses, church basements, and so forth.
Where did the money for this come from? Paying teachers, buying books, and so forth isn’t free. Here’s where the true infamy of this history lesson lies. The state of Virginia gave tuition grants to these schools to keep them running. The county chipped in with tax credits. Tax revenue from all Virginians was going to pay for the education of white Virginians only, and in private schools who could deny admittance to anyone they chose.
Prince Edward County’s African American students did the best they could. But with no schools and no state resources given them to compensate, what could they do? Some literally missed five years of schooling as a result.
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Why Did This System End?
I wish I could write that eventually national outrage changed peoples’ minds. The legendary Edward R. Murrow, CBS radio and TV journalist, created a program titled “The Lost Class of ’59” which caused indignation nationwide. But that didn’t matter. It wasn’t as important as maintaining segregation.
Instead, this system of private “segregation academies” only ended when the Supreme Court outlawed the state tuition grants in 1964. But by then, the groundwork was complete. Now, other racists had their answer to school desegregation—private schools. They’d have to pay for them, sure, but for many that remained preferable to sending their children to integrated schools.
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