We Are Your Children Too: Black Students, White Supremacists, and the Battle for America’s Schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia

In this significant nonfiction volume, Pearson (Conspiracy: Nixon, Watergate, and Democracy’s Defenders) crafts an in-depth look at Black teens fighting for their right for free education in 1950 Prince Edward County, Va. Due to segregation and the realities of separate but not equal, Black children were forced to attend schools that lacked fundamental resources, including textbooks, teachers, and proper facilities, where students were often expected to share a single outhouse in place of indoor bathrooms. Frustrated by these conditions, 16-year-old Barbara Johns (1935–1991), aided by her classmates and the local NAACP chapter, took the case to the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education; segregation was subsequently declared unconstitutional. Despite this historic declaration, however, Prince Edward County refused to integrate and instead closed its public schools and built a private academy that only admitted white students. This forced Black children to find alternative means for education, such as homeschooling or moving out of the state entirely, and exacerbated social and class divides within Black communities. The timeliness of this essential work highlights an important point in U.S. history, exploring class privilege and structural racism. B&w photographs feature throughout; a timeline concludes. Ages 10–14. Agent: Susan Hawk, Upstart Crow. (Jan.)