Photo by Ken Odor
Steve Fleming and documentary film maker Jacquelyn Pogue talk at the end of Sunday’s program at Goochland Middle School. The program featured a showing of Pogue’s documentary “Locked Out: The Fall of Massive Resistance.”

1 Comments Email Article Tweet This Share

About 50 participants came to Goochland High School Sunday to take part in a community dialogue about a pivotal era in Virginia race relations.

Half a century ago, despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision which ruled “separate but equal” school systems unconstitutional, most of the state’s schools were still segregated by race.

Massive Resistance, a strategy devised by the state to interpose itself between the federal government and the order to desegregate, was Virginia’s response.

Cities and counties dragged their feet while implementing the federal order. Prince Edward County closed its public schools entirely, from 1959-1964, to avoid integration, reopening only when ordered to do so by the Supreme Court.

The effects of Massive Resistance and its demise are the subject of the documentary film, “Lockout: The Fall of Massive Resistance.”

The film is produced by Goochland residents Jacquelyn and Robert Pogue in partnership with WCVE and the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

Sunday’s program, sponsored by the Goochland Democratic and Republican Party Committees, Community Action Dialogues for Greater Richmond and the Goochland Middle School PTA, began with a showing of the documentary, followed by a period of discussion and a summary of what was learned.

Goochland Middle School Principal Johnette Burdette promised more programs for Black History Month in future years.

One participant commented that they were there “because so much has changed for the better.”

Jacquelyn Pogue said, “I’m here because it’s not good enough yet.”

Most Virginians alive during the era discussed remember the actions of Prince Edward County, but the film also recounted other cities and counties in the Old Dominion where resistance to integration was especially strong: Norfolk, Charlottesville and Warrenton County. This story was told through interviews with students who lived through that troubled time.

By interspersing the interviews with archival television footage and newspaper articles, the film create a vivid illustration of the tensions and animosities of the period.

“Separate but equal was always a fallacy and an outrage,” says University of Virginia professor and political scientist Larry Sabato in the film, noting that it was understood that black schools never would receive equal funding, facilities or equipment.

In the discussion groups following the film, participants were asked to confront some painful issues.

“What are some of the biases and prejudices you personally need to confront?” was one question posed by facilitators.

Another was: “What action can you take to demonstrate your respect for differences.”

Members of one group, some of whom were old enough to have lived through the period, recalled their experiences.

One white member called Massive Resistance a “painful embarrassment” for his race.

A black participant recalled playing on a newly integrated football team in high school, and that black and white students drinking from the same water bottle shocked some of the white parents.

But the players didn’t care, he recalled. “We were one team,” he said, whether black or white, indicating that they had, at least while on the field, bridged the gap between the races.

Other black participants recalled the prejudices they faced: One woman said that she was taught by her parents not to hate but to love, in spite of any indignities she might face.

Marty Jewell, city councilman for the Fifth District in Richmond, grew up in Goochland and graduated from segregated Central High School in 1964.

“Vestiges of Massive Resistance are still with us today,” said Jewell.

Another participant said that although the nation has elected its first black president, our president is not fully accepted by some citizens.

A frequent comment was that, as the events discussed fade into the past and fewer people who lived through them survive, younger people would benefit from seeing the documentary.

Copies of the film on DVD can be obtained by contacting WCVE at 560-8121 or 560-8126.

Or copies can be obtained on loan cost-free for use in Goochland by contacting Pogue at 784-2626.

Photo by Ken Odor
Richmond City Councilman Marty Jewell, a Goochland native, talks about the history of Massive Resistance.