UPDATE: Front Royal Unites sets June 20 for second peaceful protest

(L to R) Front Royal residents Darnel Caison, 14; Lee Caison; DeMarcus Caison, 11; and Zayden Burks, 11, peacefully protest during the June 5 march organized by Front Royal Unites, which this week scheduled its next event for June 20. Photo courtesy of Lee Caison.

The newly formed Front Royal Unites this week scheduled its next peaceful march and rally for June 20, 11 a.m., beginning at Skyline Middle School.

“The new march and rally is in the planning stages, but the majority of it has been solidified,” Samuel Porter, vice president and spokesman for Front Royal Unites, told Royal Examiner today.

Although the June 20 event will be similar to the historical June 5 march and rally in Front Royal that drew roughly 1,000 participants, it will have a few new aspects, Porter said.

For instance, participants at the upcoming event will gather at Skyline Middle School, 240 Luray Ave., Front Royal, Va., which Porter noted has historical importance.

Initially, Warren County High School for 67 years stood at the site of the Skyline Middle School before moving into a newly constructed building on Westminster Drive in 2007.

The high school is renowned for being the first school held in violation of a statewide mandate against desegregation from former conservative Virginia Gov. James Lindsay Almond, Jr., according to Encyclopedia Virginia, an authoritative resource on the history and culture of Virginia, and a project of Virginia Humanities in partnership with the Library of Virginia.

Former Gov. Almond on September 15, 1958 ordered the high school closed as part of Virginia’s “massive resistance” against implementation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark ruling that deemed U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

At that time, Warren County High School was one of many schools Almond shut down in 1958 and 1959 in attempts to block integration — efforts ultimately quashed in January 1959 by a three-judge panel of federal district judges. The Virginia Supreme Court also that month found that Almond had violated the state constitution by closing schools.

Despite the rulings, some aspects of the massive resistance campaign continued across the Commonwealth through the early 1970s when the state government’s attempts to resist desegregation ended, according to Encyclopedia Virginia.

Fast forward to 2020, Front Royal Unites has other changes planned for the June 20 march and rally, Porter said.

“Although this isn’t a parade, we’ll be utilizing a parade route often used by the Town of Front Royal and are tirelessly working with town authorities” to plan another successful event, said Porter.

The march currently is scheduled to pass the downtown courthouse and end with fellowship at the gazebo on Main Street.

“We are encouraging signs again and for members of the community to speak about the injustices we’ve recently witnessed in America and those we have experienced in our own communities,” said Porter, referring to the recent deaths of black Americans including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Trayvon Martin allegedly at the hands of white police officers.

“We look forward to coming together with everyone, as we did last Friday, in an effort to do what’s right at this time in our small town in tandem with cities and small towns around America,” he added.

Additionally, there is an online pre-march discussion being held via the Front Royal Unites Facebook page “to gauge the community and their genuine opinions of what goes on in our community,” Porter said. “It is important to use this information to help us with our mission to eradicate white supremacy. We believe silence is complicit and injustices against minority groups must stop!

“From the courthouse to the schoolhouse, bridges must be built and not burnt down,” he said, echoing the mission of Front Royal Unites. “We want to ensure that regardless of your complexion you are not feared, you feel safe, and you get equal footing. Together we are united. Together we are Front Royal.”

Porter noted that Front Royal Unites is also in the process of forming and incorporating as a 501(c)(4) social welfare nonprofit organization.

Marchers participate in the inaugural June 5 Front Royal Unites event. Photo by Roger Bianchini.

For more information regarding the June 20 Front Royal Unites event, contact the group via email at info@frontroyalunites.org or visit www.frontroyalunites.org.

Front Royal Unites draws over 1,000 for anti-racism rally