The Segregationist History of School Choice – The Wall Street Journal

Oct. 21, 2021 2:01 pm ET

School choice is a promising policy and segregation is a persistent national disgrace, so getting the history correct matters. Unfortunately, Phillip Magness is not correct when he writes that the standard history is backward and voucher supporters were the antiracists in 1950s and 1960s Virginia (School Choices Antiracist History, op-ed, Oct. 19).

Mr. Magness highlights the case of segregationist John S. Battle Jr., who argued that vouchers would undermine segregation. Battle is an intriguing character in Virginias desegregation story, but he was out of step with most segregationists. The most ardent supporters of the vouchers, including a suite of former governors, state Sen. Garland Gray, the Defenders of State Sovereignty and Individual Liberties, James Jackson Kilpatrick and Leon Dure, saw vouchers as a critical component of their fight against Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Battle was a dissenting segregationist voice and his campaign against vouchers did not ultimately persuade the General Assembly, the governor or any prominent advocates. A segregationist with dissenting policy views does not make historians understanding of desegregation backward. Battle is best thought of as the exception who proves the rule.

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The Segregationist History of School Choice - The Wall Street Journal