University of Virginia Library

Creating Segregation

Upon his inauguration, Governor Linwood
Holton stated that the days of racial
discrimination in state agencies were going to
end in his administration. It was a nice
statement. Now he has a chance to back it up,
and it will be interesting to see how he does
when called upon for more than words.

The College of William & Mary, now a
state institution, has been operating a junior
college extension in Petersburg called Richard
Bland College. Like most of the colleges in
Virginia, it is predominantly white. In recent
years, the number of students seeking to
transfer from Richard Bland to William &
Mary has risen to the point where they are a
strain on the Williamsburg campus. So
yesterday, William & Mary's Board of Visitors
decided to expand Richard Bland to a four
year, degree-granting institution, much like
George Mason College in Fairfax. This will
require an increased expenditure of state
funds and this is as it should be; the area
needs a local state college.

The area, of course, already has one
Virginia State College in Petersburg; but
Virginia State is a predominantly, black
institution. If Virginia State were a white
institution, there would be no question about
elevating Richard Bland College it would be
about as sensible as building another
university in Albemarle County. If Virginia
State were a white institution, the state would
save a lot of money by simply expanding its
facilities to handle the transfers from Richard
Bland College.

But Virginia State is not a white school,
and to make it the recipient of Richard
Bland's transfers would require the state to do
two things. First, it would have to make an
effort to upgrade Virginia State - not too
many white parents would be satisfied with
the kind of education afforded to blacks in
this state. Second, it would create a
substantially integrated state institution,
something that it has never been willing to do
before.

If the plan to elevate Richard Bland to a
four year college goes through, Virginia will
have indicated its desire to perpetuate and
create new forms of segregation. It's one thing
to resist the effort required to overcome the
effects of entrenched practices; that's bad
enough. It is quite another thing to take
positive action to create a new means of
separating the races when the opposite result
could be more easily attained. State Senator
Wilder has announced that he will be working
to thwart the plan. If Governor Holton meant
what he said, Mr. Wilder will have some
influential support.