Sit-ins and Boycotts
Following the James Blair riot, racial tensions did not go away. Fed up, Black students and their parents organized sit-ins and boycotts and formally expressed their greivances to city and county leaders.
As The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported, on April 25, 1969, about 100 Black students "staged a sit-in in the school auditorium to protest what they termed exclusion of Negroes from full participation in extra-curricular activities." Another sit-in was held the following day.
Source: Kinnier, John T. 1969, April 26. 100 at Blair Stage Sit-in and Boycott. Richmond Times-Dispatch.
A committee of ten Black students, led by Gretchen Banks, and three Black parents parents met with Acting Principal George Pitts, Superintendent Henry A. Renz, and other administrators. As The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported, the students insisted that "Negro students were not adequately represented on the cheerleading squad, among club officers, and on school publications. There has been a feeling during the entire school year that Negroes were excluded from full participation in all extra-curricular activities...Negro students also feel that school rules are more strictly enforced for Negro students than for white students, and they want courses in Negro history at the school."
With only about 250 Black students out of 800 total students, Black students felt they had little voice in decision-making, as one Black student explained:
"Everything that comes up, they (white students) have five votes for every one vote we have."
Source: Kinnier, John T. 1969, April 26. 100 at Blair Stage Sit-in and Boycott. Richmond Times-Dispatch.
The Class of 1969, James Blair High School
Courtesy: Mary Ashlock
The students offered this list of grievances, as reported in The Virginia Gazette:
"The school rules are enforced unequally on Negroes and whites."
The yearbook staff "should not be selected by the previous yearbook staff."
Concerns "about the way class meetings were planned. Some Negroes felt that the white members of the executive committee got together before the entire executive committee met and made preliminary plans."
"The absentee policy on the athletic teams was questioned. A player is dropped from the team if he is absent a certain number of times; the Negroes said illness was not always excused."
"A course in Negro history was requested."
"Meetings held before and after school were often called on such short notice they did not have sufficient time to plan to attend."
"The students were concerned about the way the yearbook was dedicated and to whom it was dedicated. The senior class voted on the dedication in November and the name of the person will be announced at the official dedication made during the senior assembly at the end of May. The group felt the dedication took place too early before either the former Berkeley students or the former James Blair students had had an opportunity to know each other or the members of the faculty."
Source: Virginia Gazette. 1969. "James Blair Problems." May 2.
As the first year of full integration in the Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools came to a close, Black parents and community leaders continued their advocacy on behalf of their students and the broader community.
In June 1969, twenty-four Black citizens signed a petition that was submitted to the governing bodies of Williamsburg and James City County and was printed as an editorial in The Virginia Gazette. The petition called on Williamsburg-James City County to take immediate action to achieve Black representation on local governing bodies, including on the School Boards.
Petition demanding Black representation on local political bodies signed by twenty-four concerned citizens.
Courtesy: Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William & Mary
"The Negro constituency of Williamsburg and James City County has been systematically ignored and totally disregarded in all vital areas of policy making in the government of this area.
We have waited 300 years! How much longer must we wait?"
The work of integration remained unfinished.
Banner image: Collage of news articles and headlines created by Lanni Brown
Source: Kinner, John T. April 26, 1969. 100 at Blair Stage Sit-in and Boycott. The Richmond Times-Dispatch.; Anderson, Maria. May 2. 1969. James Blair Problems. The Virginia Gazette. Page 2A.