Reply #29: Echoes of Segregation in Mississippi School’s Prom Cancellation

[struggle4progress]

... In their statement announcing the cancellation of the prom, school district officials said they hoped that “private citizens will organize an event for the juniors and seniors,” a sentiment with clear echoes of Southern states’ efforts to avoid desegregation of public schools in the late 1950s.

When federal courts ordered public schools in four Virginia counties integrated in early 1958, Virginia governor James Almond ordered those schools to be closed — rather than have students attend on an integrated basis, he would provide no public education whatsoever.

As in the current Mississippi case, Almond foresaw individual initiative filling the gap, and so they did — private “segregation academies,” funded with state money and individual donations, were created to take in the white students whose schools had been closed. No similar provision was made for educating black students. The closed Virginia schools were re-opened by court order within a few months, though Virginia’s Prince Edward County later shut down its school system for five years rather than integrate ...

http://studentactivism.net/2010/03/11/echoes-of-segregation/