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By 1968, the U.S. Supreme Court had lost patience with the slow pace of school integration. In New Kent County, Virginia,
under a freedom-of-choice plan, 115 black students chose to attend mostly white New Kent High School but 85 percent
of blacks and no whites attended George W. Watkins School. A lawsuit brought by Calvin Green contended that such
freedom-of-choice plans made desegregation a sham. The court used Green v. School Board of New Kent County
to decree a new approach. It became the most important school desegregation case since Brown in 1954. Not
satisfied with token compliance, the court shifted its concern "to ensure racial balance in schools." The "Green"
factors used to determine whether a desegregation plan was acceptable included the ratio of black to white
students and faculty, and absolute equality in facilities, transportation, and extracurricular activities. Freedom-of-choice
plans, whether in Virginia or elsewhere, did not meet the Court's new standards and were unanimously rejected.
The Court's insistence on immediately destroying segregated schools "root and branch" hastened the pace of
change. The percentage of southern black students attending integrated schools jumped from 32 percent in
1968–69 to 79 percent in 1970–71.
Because of white flight to private academies and to the suburbs, racial balance could not be achieved in many
city schools without extensive busing of students citywide or across city-county boundaries. This set the stage
for a sharp white backlash against social engineering by the judiciary and a strengthening of conservative
political opinion.
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George W. Watkins School
George W. Watkins School was an all-black school in small, rural, mostly
black New Kent County. In the early 1960s, under a freedom-of-choice plan that allowed pupils to choose their
school, some black students chose to go to the formerly all-white New Kent High School, but 85 percent elected
to remain at Watkins, which remained all black. Freedom-of-choice plans were struck down as unconstitutional
in Green v. School Board of New Kent County. Courtesy New Kent County School Board. |
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Next: School Busing
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