National Trends

The Integration Struggle—Second Stage

The first stage of the South’s resistance to compulsory school integration ended last week. In this initial stage, during which the chief battles were fought in Arkansas and Virginia, the question was: Can community opposition, expressed on the social level, justify postponement of integration? The Supreme Court said no, and thus, in effect, instructed inferior federal courts in future cases to say no. True, the Court ruled only on the Little Rock case; and the reasoning behind the ruling has yet to be stated. But Little Rock involved a situation where violence and school disruption had actually occurred and had been acknowledged in the opinions of the lower courts: a fortiori, such conditions would not be considered sufficient cause for a stay where they were merely prospective, as in Virginia. This, in any event, was the interpretation cast on the decision by the Governor of Virginia, who, in sychronization with the Governor of Arkansas, quickly drew up the South’s forces along a new line of defense.

LB

About the Author

L. Brent Bozell Jr.

Featured Tags

The Integration Struggle—Second Stage

The first stage of the South’s resistance to compulsory school integration ended last week. In this initial stage, during which the chief battles were fought in Arkansas and Virginia, the question was: Can community opposition, expressed on the social level, justify postponement of integration? The Supreme Court said no, and thus, in effect, instructed inferior federal courts in future cases to say no. True, the Court ruled only on the Little Rock case; and the reasoning behind the ruling has yet to be stated. But Little Rock involved a situation where violence and school disruption had actually occurred and had been acknowledged in the opinions of the lower courts: a fortiori, such conditions would not be considered sufficient cause for a stay where they were merely prospective, as in Virginia. This, in any event, was the interpretation cast on the decision by the Governor of Virginia, who, in sychronization with the Governor of Arkansas, quickly drew up the South’s forces along a new line of defense.