Daugherity's monograph examines the contribution made by the Virginia chapter of the NAACP to school desegregation in the twenty years after the landmark Brown v. Board decision. Beginning with an insightful overview of the history of the Virginia NAACP, the text follows the organization's struggle to desegregate Virginia's schools across three clear stages: first, the limited measures achieved against Massive Resistance with token desegregation; second, with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the game-changing Green v. New Kent County decision of 1968, the success achieved by the organization in conjunction with the federal government; and third, the rise of conservatism and resegregation across the state's schools. Daugherity's critical yet balanced approach to the complications of the struggle allows for a fresh and compelling investigation; the discussion of free choice as a stepping-stone of integration in particular was both well evidenced and nuanced in its treatment of the major players.
In focussing on one state only, this text could easily have become a plodding account of small victories and inconsequential setbacks. However, Daugherity's engaging writing style and clear narrative conceptualization, alongside the surprisingly short length of the monograph, ensure that this is not the case. By following integration county by county and school by school, the development not just of school integration in the state, but also of local attitudes to integration and the state's importance to nationwide desegregation, has been formed.
The text offers relevant insights into the changing face of desegregation across the decades. The examination of each of the many strategies utilized against segregation as the goalposts were periodically moved presents a useful and important narrative of the struggle. Moreover, the text humanizes the legal fight for desegregation, as Daugherity allows the often overlooked local organizations and activists that gave life to the Supreme Court decision to play a central role in his work. This highlights the tenacity and dedication displayed by this community in the decades-long fight, without whom “all deliberate speed” would likely have been a lot slower.
Finally, the work shines a light on a hitherto untold element of desegregation: the toll it took on African American communities themselves. Daugherity does not ignore the sacrifices made by the communities involved in the struggle for desegregation in Virginia, from the lawyers who were attacked for their casework, to the “sacrificial lambs” – the black children who were chosen to be lonely tokens in the desegregation of white schools. He also notes the decline in teaching posts for African American teachers, wrought by the closure of black schools in favour of integrating the local white schools. Furthermore, Daugherity notes the loss of African American cultural education, from the decline of black history teaching to the removal of black historical figures from the names of historically black schools after they had been integrated. This element of the desegregation process is rarely examined, and will be of great benefit to scholars looking to examine this area in more detail.
The book is limited, however, by the lack of engagement with events occurring outside Virginia, especially considering the influence that the Virginia struggle had upon the nationwide fight. It must be noted that this element is not totally absent from the text; indications are given about the state and speed of integration in other southern states, but greater engagement with the work of other state NAACP chapters in moving this cause forward would have better shaped the narrative and broadened its impact. The brevity of this book, whilst contributing to its readability and appeal, have limited its possibility for impact. There are holes in the narrative that could have been filled without undermining the book's accessibility.
Nevertheless, this book has plenty to offer, especially to those new to the field. This work reflects the historiographical trend for examining the local face of the civil rights movement, and for offering a more nuanced approach to the struggle, shirking the earlier trend for heroes and villains. The importance of local organizations in the broader fight for desegregation in the USA is clearly delineated in the narrative, and the questions this book poses, especially concerning the secondary impacts of the Brown decision, offer plenty of scope to inspire future scholars.
