Southern Stalemate

Five Years without Public Education in Prince Edward County, Virginia

Bonastia Christopher

In 1959, Virginia's Prince Edward County closed its public schools rather than obey a court order to desegregate. For five years, black children were left to fend for themselves while the courts decided if the county could continue to deny its citizens public education. Investigating this remarkable and nearly forgotten story of local, state, and federal political confrontation, Christopher Bonastia recounts the test of wills that pitted resolute African Americans against equally steadfast white segregationists in a battle over the future of public education in America.

Beginning in 1951 when black high school students protested unequal facilities and continuing through the return of whites to public schools in the 1970s and 1980s, Bonastia describes the struggle over education during the civil rights era and the human suffering that came with it, as well as the inspiring determination of black residents to see justice served. Artfully exploring the lessons of the Prince Edward saga, "Southern Stalemate" unearths new insights about the evolution of modern conservatism and the politics of race in America.

Reviews

"What happened in Prince Edward County in the late 1950s and early 1960s was nothing less than an American tragedy. Yet it's long lingered on the margins of civil rights history, a footnote to the standard story of struggle and triumph. With Christopher Bonastia's careful, enlightening, and sympathetic new study, it finally has the book it deserves" – Kevin Boyle, author of" Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age"

"Well written and engaging, this book richly chronicles an incident that has been underexplored in the vast civil rights movement literature. Bonastia goes beyond a welcome general political historical account to develop a close analysis of white justifications of school closings and the use of legal mobilization strategies to pursue movement goals. 'Southern Stalemate' makes an excellent contribution to our understanding of civil rights era contention that will be of interest to historians, social scientists, and education scholars alike" – David Cunningham, Brandeis University

"A fine book that captures the intensity of the struggle among the white segregationists, the NAACP, and the black community during the years of the school closing, 'Southern Stalemate' sheds new light on the civil rights movement and this important case. It represents an important step in the quest to better understand race, social movement, and legal scholarship" – Aldon Morris, Northwestern University

"In this absorbing and meticulously researched narrative, Christopher Bonastia brings us into a forgotten yet vitally important moment in the civil rights movement, when a Virginia county abandoned its public schools rather than integrate them. 'Southern Stalemate' is a grand addition to the literature on the civil rights struggle" – Alex Kotlowitz, author of "There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America"

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