“I hope you will not sell your birthright of freedom for a mess of segregated pottage. Nothing is more sublime than suffering and sacrifice for a great cause. But there can be no growth without pain.” These words from Martin Luther King Junior epitomized the struggle of black members of society during the Prince Edward County schooling crisis. Even after the court’s decision in 1959 to outlaw segregation, the white schools were not compelled to change their institutions, but rather to close them down to even further impede the black population’s access to educational resources. They closed their public schools for 5 years, launching the community into an educational crisis and forcing them to migrate outward. Because many of the older generation of the black community did not have formal educations or resources, they could not educate their children on their own, and they could hardly afford to send them elsewhere to school. For those that could, migrating to other communities was the next step to get education. But the others, who either could not afford the travel or demanded to post up in Prince Edward County for protest, had to suffer the consequences of no educational opportunities. At one point, the Negro’s were offered a chance to attend a separate black private school, which would give them a chance at education but would ultimately curtail their long-fought goal of desegregation. White leaders of schools were increasingly irritated by the continued demand for better facilities or more equal treatment, but as their “intransigence” grew, so did the determination of the black population.

After seeing the hardships that Prince Edward County black citizens were facing, it is clear why Martin Luther King’s statement is so provoking. His reference to the Biblical story of Jacob and Esau is a perfect representation of the decision that they all had to face. In the book of Genesis, Esau has just returned home and is faced with severe hunger to the point of bodily pain. His brother and adversary, Jacob, offers him soup, a temporary relief for what he feels like he readily needs, to satiate his hunger. In order for him to obtain the soup from Jacob, he has to give up his birthright to him, which was Esau’s personal right given to him at birth for the riches of his father. Paralleling that story, if the Negro’s of Prince Edward County were to accept the white leaders’ substandard offers of separate schools during the time which they were the most starved of education, then they would ultimately give up their dreams and rights of having integrated schooling and a better education for their children. Indeed, they had to suffer through momentary pain in order to see growth.

-What do you think would have happened if the Prince Edward County black members had settled for the separate schooling in order for their kids to have any education at all in the midst of the school closing crisis?

-The reverend Martin Luther King Jr. often refers to Jesus Christ’s supreme sacrifice when encouraging the suffering and eventual victory of the black citizens. I am curious what you all think about the Biblical rhetoric he uses. What is the importance of Jesus Christ and religion to the people and their morale? How does the emulation of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice translate into their fight for equality?