The Ralph Bunche High School in King George County has two separate storylinesâone about its place in history during the national struggle for civil rights and the other about ongoing attempts to restore it.
The firstâthe story that members of the Ralph Bunche Alumni Association have been lobbying for decades to shareâspeaks to their struggle and perseverance. When Virginia refused to integrate schools, Black families in King George sued for the county to build a separate-but-equal facility, which brought about the opening of the high school in 1949.
The court action was viewed as a landmark case across the state and nation, said Claudette Jordon, president of the Ralph Bunche Alumni Association. Her group wants King George officials to pursue plans that consultants hired by the county came up with in 2017. The idea includes converting the school into a community center with museum exhibits that would âenlighten visitors about the role it played in the legal history toward equality in education,â she wrote in March.