Bobby in the Black Belt

Until a fortnight ago, Prince Edward County was commonly reckoned one of the NAACP’s worst mistakes. Its school desegregation suit against the small community in Virginia’s Black Belt dated from 1951; the county’s case was one of those decided by the Supreme Court on May 17, 1954. Yet what results had a decade of litigation yielded? Faced with a choice between integrated schools or no schools in the spring of 1959, Prince Edward chose to abandon public education. For 1,400 white children that meant transferring to a private school system held in readiness for several years. For the county’s 1,750 Negro children, however, that drastic step meant the end of all education.

During the past two years, even the most sympathetic observers have questioned the NAACP’s willingness to sacrifice the schooling of so many children; it has been suggested that the NAACP ought to concentrate on winning less costly “victories.”

RP

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Robert Parker

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Until a fortnight ago, Prince Edward County was commonly reckoned one of the NAACP’s worst mistakes. Its school desegregation suit against the small community in Virginia’s Black Belt dated from 1951; the county’s case was one of those decided by the Supreme Court on May 17, 1954. Yet what results had a decade of litigation yielded? Faced with a choice between integrated schools or no schools in the spring of 1959, Prince Edward chose to abandon public education. For 1,400 white children that meant transferring to a private school system held in readiness for several years. For the county’s 1,750 Negro children, however, that drastic step meant the end of all education.

During the past two years, even the most sympathetic observers have questioned the NAACP’s willingness to sacrifice the schooling of so many children; it has been suggested that the NAACP ought to concentrate on winning less costly “victories.”