One unique student perspective that highlights what enfolded when the city of Fredericksburg chose to begin desegregation was the story of Roland Moore, the first African American student at James Monroe High School. At the age of fourteen, he entered the doors of the high school at the beginning of the school year in 1962 and unlike the group of students that entered Stafford High School around the same time, Moore entered this new territory alone. His mother pushed him to apply and go to JMHS so that he could get a better education than what Walker-Grant High school could provide. Moore recalls, “’I’m not going to attribute it to any hidden well of courage, just that I was really excited about the opportunity to do it. I’d been called names before. I knew no one was going to hurt me’”[1].
While the black students who entered Stafford High School for the first time faced little to no open opposition on that first day, Moore faced lots of hostility from the community. Moore was welcomed with threatening messages written on the sidewalk and white students and adults hurling insults at him as he walked in on his first day of school. He even faced opposition from teachers who openly mocked him in class. Moore admits that he often struggled with making the grade in his classes, but he felt like he couldn’t ask for any assistance from his teachers. This struggle inspired him to go into education for a career. Moore comments, “’One of the things I strove for was to never have children experience…(a reluctance) to help them learn’” [1]. Although he faced much opposition and hardship, as he was the sole student to start the process of desegregation in the city schools, the conflict that resulted paved the way for others to strive for a better education as well, which leads us to what can be learned from the conflict surrounding desegregation.
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Works Cited:
[1] Zitz, M. (2003, January 26). Changing Times: Roland Moore Broke the Color Barrier at James Monroe High School in 1962. The Free Lance Star.
[2] Ibid.
B. (n.d.). [James Monroe High School. Fredericksburg, VA. Postcard.]. Retrieved from https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:th83m499p