Governor Glenn Youngkin is signing a bill that offers reparations for victims of a racist policy that shut down Virginia's public schools.
Massive Resistance is a dark chapter in Virginia history, a time when Virginia public schools closed rather than integrate. Now, the governor is putting his signature on a bill that will extend an existing education fund to help victims of Massive Resistance who were denied an education because of the racist policy.
Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan introduced the bill when she was in the state Senate.
"This is a part of the justice that the Commonwealth of Virginia owes the five communities where Massive Resistance shut down those schools and will help to heal a lot of the hard feelings that still exist in those communities," she explains.
Delegate Kaye Kory is a Democrat from Fairfax County who introduced the House version of the bill.
"If there's some way that we can begin to help those who have been disadvantaged by this, whether it's the individual whose school was closed or a child of such a person, then I think we should do that right away," Kory says. "And actually, I think this is something that we should have done before now."
The original fund for victims of Massive Resistance was created 20 years ago. Starting this summer, that fund will be available to their children and cousins.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
