| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

Little Rock

Page history last edited by LittleRock 13 years, 6 months ago

    Little Rock, Arkansas, September Fourth, 1957. The night before nine black teens, now infamous as the Little Rock Nine, had no idea of what tomorrow would be like. They could take guesses about their near future, but none would accurately depict the horribly racist events of September Fifth. There were to enroll in the all-white highschool, Little Rock Central High. To enter, black students interested in attending white only schools were put through a series of rigorous interviews to determine whether they were suited for admission.  School officials interviewed approximately eighty black students for Central High School, the largest school in the city.  Only nine were chosen, Melba Patillo Beals, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Carlotta Walls Lanier, Terrance Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, Minnijean Brown Trickey, and Thelma Mothershed Wair.[1] Eight of the nine students decided to go as a group to the highschool, but they couldn't contact the ninth, arguably the most influential, Elizabeth Eckford, who's face and struggle was shown around the world. [2]

 

Depicted here is the 101st Airborne Division, who had to take over the Arkansas National Guard's job, because at first the Little Rock Nine supposed they were there to protect them, but they really were sent by Arkansas governor Orval Faubus to keep them out.

 

    This is perhaps one of the most influential racist events of the 1950's decade, because it shows that even at an early age, teen whites and so effected by their parents and the environment around them that they too join in on the yelling, beating, and racist slurs. It's amazing that even the National Guard had to be taken off the job because they too were racist at that time. Although Martin Luther King, Jr. was just starting to grab peoples attention, this is ten times more compelling, because of the age group. It's hard to believe that even mature adults would act this way to black students just because of their skin color. Although the tension in Little Rock in September was high, ultimately President Eisenhower had to step in and enforce the laws set down by the Supreme Court, and the Little Rock Nine attended Little Rock Central High.

 

Footnotes

  1. http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/little-rock-crisis-1957
  2. Robert Somerlott "The Little Rock School Desgregation Crisis" 2001 Pages 7-15

Comments (2)

Khrushchev said

at 1:18 pm on Sep 23, 2010

wow i did not know that ultimately President Eisenhower had to step in and enforce the laws set

Peyton Place said

at 8:35 pm on Sep 23, 2010

thats crazy that they had to escort them in like that

You don't have permission to comment on this page.