Virginia and Massive Resistance
Amelia Richardson and Emily Ganley Timeline of the Massive Resistance
1. Brown II is taken on by the Warren Court (1955-56) 2. The Gray Commission is formed. Official response to Brown II: 11/11/1955 3. Feb. 12, 1956: Senator Harry F. Bird calls for “Massive Resistance” 4. March 1956: “Southern Manifesto” 5. September 1956: The Stanley Plan 6. January 1958 Lindsay Almond becomes governor of Virginia 7. 1958-1964 Schools close because of not wanting to desegregate 8. 1968- Green vs. New Kent County The Gray Commission
● While the Supreme Court deliberates Brown II, this Commission was made to form Virginia’s response to the plan ● 32 Virginian State Lawmakers appointed by governor Thomas B. Stanley ○ Appointed 8/30/1954 ○ Called “The Commission on Public Education,” or “The General Assembly” headed by Garland Gray ○ All white men, most representing Southside Virginia counties ● Found Brown II to be wrong (shocking!!!) and segregation to be right ○ Brown II didn’t follow the precedents of other courts ○ Segregation good for blacks, too ○ The Supreme Court no "gave no consideration to the adverse effect of integration upon white children." The Gray Plan
● Proposed a local option: technically allowed desegregation, but its goal was to inhibit any actual desegregation. ○ Final report: 11/11/1955 ○ 1) Localities have the power to assign students to schools ○ 2) Since they had decided that no child should be forced to go to a desegregated school… parents should be given tuition grants for alternative education (Involved amending state constitution) ○ Gave local governments the power because they were closest to the people, in order to avoid “enforced integration” ● Criticism: being too compliant with Brown ○ It would cause desegregation in localities that allowed it Senator Harry F. Byrd
● Virginia State Senator (1915-1925), Virginia Governor (1926-1930), and United States Senator (1933-1965) ● Known for his vain opposition to New Deal programs and Civil Rights Legislation ○ His career is marked by the infamous “Massive Resistance” in Virginia and his mandated segregation of schools, even after Brown vs. Board of Education II ○ His opposition to the Civil Rights Legislation came from: ■ The need to keep the “Southside” of Virginia (known to be very racist) for voting, as they were his biggest support ■ His anger at the federal government for getting into Virginia’s state affairs The Stanley Plan- background
● Named after Governor Stanley ● Against the local option (Gray Plan), only a unified resistance could prevent the “mixing of races” ● “Interposition”- drawing from Antebellum South ideology- The state can interpose its power to stop the implementation of federal court rulings. ○ Arlington County School Board ● Either- or proposition ● Critical policy for the Massive Resistance The Stanley Plan
● Pupil Placement Board- so African Americans could not be assigned to white schools (racial criteria) ● Three strategic components of the Resistance: ○ Governor would close any school facing a federal desegregation mandate ○ Government would attack NAACP’s ability to bring suits, harass black parents serving as plaintiffs ○ Commission of Constitutional Government- James J. Kilpatrick- defended segregation (state’s rights) in the court of public opinion ● Passed- 13 Statutes- September 1956 ○ Passed, though a significant population favored the local plan (Gray plan) Massive Resistance
● Famous editor of the Richmond News Leader, James K Kilpatrick, popularizes the idea of interposition: “states could place themselves between the federal government and the citizens of the state when state officials felt the federal government had exceeded its constitutional powers” (Rights and Protests IB Textbook) ● February 12, 1956 Byrd gives a speech calling for massive resistance to federally mandated school desegregation ○ Massive Resistance: legislation and accompanying government actions that fought the federal government to maintain Virginia’s segregated school system ● March 12, 1956- Senator Byrd creates the “Southern Manifesto”, which demonstrated resistance to the Board vs. Board of Education II decision through the opposition of integrated schools ○ Signed by 19 Senators and 77 House of Representatives ■ The senators were from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas (only had one), and Virginia Massive Resistance Continued
● July 1956, federal judges order the desegregation of public schools in Charlottesville and Arlington County ○ This leads to the Stanley Plan ● Through the Stanley Plan, the Pupil Placement Board was put into place which gave the state the power to assign specific students to particular schools ○ The main purpose: to make sure the state had the power to not allow African American students into white schools ● January 1958, Lindsay Almond becomes the governor of Virginia; she is a democratic supporter of Massive Resistance ● September 1958, Norfolk, Charlottesville, and Warren County are ordered by federal courts to integrate African American students. Almond responds by closing the schools, locking out 13,000 students ○ This leads to two opposing sides: white Americans who favored re-opening the schools and following the court orders, and segregationist advocates ○ The white Americans who favored re-opening the schools create the Virginia Committee for Public Schools, the largest citizen-led organization involved with the integration crisis. They illustrated that the white community was not only one mindset The Perrow Plan
● January 19, 1959- The Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals states that the state’s action in closing the schools violated the United States Constitution ● Almond begins repealing elements of the Stanley Plan- by February, African American students are allowed to enter previously white-only schools in Norfolk and Arlington ○ But, even with reforms that allowed African American students to attend schools, many still didn’t attend school ● The Almond Administration implements the Perrow Plan (created by Virginia Senator Mosby Perrow) ○ The plan established “freedom of choice”, where parents could choose to enrol their children in any school if they appealed to the Pupil Placement Board. This tried to keep desegregation to a minimum. ○ Even though many still supported Massive Resistance, this plan was passed by both houses of Virginia legislature and became law Green vs. New Kent County
● Many schools slowly began integrating students- but by 1964, only 5% of African American students attended school with white children. A school in Prince Edward County held out desegregation until 1964 ● Nothing changed much in Virginia until the ruling in Green vs. New Kent County ○ Between Charles C. Green (and other African American students) and New Kent County ○ Supreme Court case ○ http://www.britannica.com/topic/Green-v-County-School- Board-of-New-Kent-County ○ This ruled that “freedom of choice” was “unacceptable because of the available alternatives that promised a quicker and more-effective conversion to a school system that was not racially segregated” (Encyclopaedia Britannica) ○ This lead to a large increase in desegregation in Virginia Bibliography
● Heinemann, R. L. "Harry F. Byrd (1887–1966)." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 22 Jun. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. ● "Massive Resistance." Massive Resistance. Virginia Historical Society. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.