Thread by @ComiCrissieB

@BUCAblog @TheRaDR In 1978, the Carter administration (finally!) implemented a 1970 IRS rule to enforce fed court decisions in 1969 that barred fed tax exemptions for 'segregation academies' - private (mostly religious) schools founded to avoid Brown v. Board of Education. southerneducation.org/publications/h…

@BUCAblog @TheRaDR Brief timeline:

1954 - In Brown v. Board of Ed, SCOTUS holds that racial segregation of public schools violates 14th Amend Equal Protection clause.

1950s-60s - White supremacists pull kids out of public schools and put them in private, mostly religious "segregation academies."

@BUCAblog @TheRaDR Late 60s - Lawsuits against "segregation academies" reach federal courts. In 1969, several courts hold these schools are not eligible for federal tax exemptions.

1970 - IRS passes rule barring exemptions for "segregation academies," but Nixon & Ford admins don't enforce it.

@BUCAblog @TheRaDR 1976 - In Runyon v. McCrary, SCOTUS holds that federal law (KKK Act) prohibits racial segregation in private schools.

1978 - Carter admin announces they'll enforce 1970 IRS rule.

1979 - Jerry Falwell founds Moral Majority to defend segregation academies.

@BUCAblog @TheRaDR 1979-80 - Paul Weyrich tells Falwell there's not much public support for school segregation, says Moral Majority should focus on another issue, one that will pull conservative Catholics into the religious right ...

... abortion. npr.org/2019/06/20/734…

@BUCAblog @TheRaDR And that's how white evangelicals came to care about abortion. It was a stalking horse issue to pull other conservative Christians into the fold ... and build support for dismantling public schools and replacing them with segregated private schools.