Segregation academies

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Segregation academies (also called seg academies) refer to private schools started in the United States during the 1950s, '60s, and 70s as a way for white parents to avoid the desegregation of public schools as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education. Because the Brown ruling did not apply to private schools, the creation of segregation academies was a way to keep segregation intact. While these schools were mainly found in the Southern United States, they existed nationwide. In recent years, as social patterns in United States have changed, many of these private schools began to admit minority students or ceased to exist.

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[edit] History

The first segregation academies were created in the late 1950s as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education, which required public school boards to eliminate segregation "with all deliberate speed." Because the ruling did not apply to private schools, the creation of segregation academies was a way to keep segregation intact.[1][2] Private academies operated outside the scope of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling and could therefore effectively maintain racial segregation.[3] While there is some debate about why whites pulled their children out of public schools (with whites insisting that "quality fueled their exodus" while blacks say "white parents refused to allow their children to be schooled alongside blacks")[4] there is no debate that many white children were pulled out of region's public schools and instead educated in private schools. Across the nation it is estimated that at least half a million students were withdrawn from public schools between 1964 and 1975 to avoid mandatory desegregation.[5] As Archie Douglas, the headmaster of the Montgomery Academy (a school reputed to have been founded in response to desegregation) has said, he is sure "that those who resented the civil rights movement or sought to get away from it took refuge in the academy."[6]

As a result of the creation of segregation academies, a number of Southern schools were identified by name in Allen v. Wright[7], a lawsuit by black parents in seven U.S. states. The parents sued the Internal Revenue Service, contending that IRS guidelines for determining whether a private school was racially discriminatory were insufficient. The case was decided in 1984 by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that citizens do not have standing to sue a federal government agency based on the influence that the agency's determinations might have on third parties (such as private schools). The judges also noted the parents were in the posture of disappointed observers of the governmental process, that although the complaint asserted that "there are more than 3,500 racially segregated private academies operating in the country having a total enrollment of more than 750,000 children" (J.A. 24), it cited by name only 19 "representative" private schools, and that the parents did not allege that they or their children had applied to, been discouraged from applying to, or been denied admission to any private school or schools.[8]

Despite this victory, as social patterns in the United States changed many segregation academies either opened their doors to students of all races or had their nonprofit status revoked by the IRS.

[edit] Virginia's segregation academies

In Virginia, segregation academies were part of a policy of massive resistance declared by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr., to unite other white Virginian politicians and leaders in taking action to prevent school desegregation after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954.

In 1956, the Virginia General Assembly passed a series of laws to implement massive resistance. One of these laws created a program of "tuition grants" which could be given to students so they could attend a private school of their choice. In practice, this meant support of all-white schools that appeared as a response to forced integration, and these newly formed schools became known as the "segregation academies."

When faced with an order to integrate, Prince Edward County closed its entire school system in September 1959 rather than integrate. The county kept its entire school system closed until 1964. Many white students were able to get educated at the newly-created Prince Edward Academy, which operated as the de facto school system, enrolling K-12 students at a number of facilities throughout the county. Even after the re-opening of the public schools, the Academy remained segregated, losing its tax-exempt status in 1978.

Other counties, such as Surry County, chose to close only their white schools. White students attended the Surry Academy, and blacks continued to attend the public schools.

Other segregation academies that were formed around Virginia included:

In 1986, Prince Edward Academy accepted black students. Today it is known as the Fuqua School. All of the other segregation academies either closed or adopted non-racial discrimination policies. One, Huguenot Academy, merged with Blessed Sacrament High School, a nearby Catholic High School, to become Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot.

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Market Education: The Unknown History by Andrew J. Coulson, Transaction Publishers, 1999, page 275.
  2. ^ Educational Freedom in Urban America: Brown V. Board After Half a Century, edited by David Salisbury, CATO Institute, 2004, page 32.
  3. ^ Younge, Gary (2004-11-30). Alabama clings to segregationist past. The Guardian. Retrieved on May 2, 2006.
  4. ^ Crowder, Carla (2002-10-27). Private white academies struggle in changing world (requires registration). The Birmingham News. Retrieved on May 2, 2006.
  5. ^ Market Education: The Unknown History by Andrew J. Coulson, Transaction Publishers, 1999, page 275.
  6. ^ Connolly, Regan Loyola. "Private schools diversify", The Montgomery Advertiser, 2004-01-12. Archie Douglas, the headmaster of The Montgomery Academy, is quoted stating that the school was started in 1959 in what he believed was a reaction to desegregation of the public schools. He then said, "I am sure that those who resented the civil rights movement or sought to get away from it took refuge in the academy. But, it's not 1959 anymore and The Montgomery Academy has a philosophy today that reflects the openness . . . and utter lack of discrimination with regard to race or religion that was evident in prior decades."
  7. ^ No. 81-757, No. 81-970. Office of the solicitor general, United States department of justice (1983). Retrieved on May 2, 2006. Text of the Allen v. Wright ruling, Supreme Court of the United States.
  8. ^ No. 81-757, No. 81-970. Office of the solicitor general, United States department of justice (1983). Retrieved on May 2, 2006. Text of the Allen v. Wright ruling, Supreme Court of the United States.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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