Little Rock Nine: Difference between revisions
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The '''Little Rock Nine''' or the '''Little Rock Crisis''' refers to an incident in which nine [[African-American]] students were prevented from attending [[Central International Studies High School|Little Rock Central High]] in 1957 during the [[African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)|Civil Rights Movement]]. |
The '''Little Rock Nine''' or the '''Little Rock Crisis''' refers to an incident in which nine [[African-American]] students were prevented from attending [[Central International Studies High School|Little Rock Central High]] in 1957 during the [[African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)|Civil Rights Movement]]. |
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====''Brown v. Topeka Board of Education''==== |
====''Brown v. Topeka Board of Education''==== |
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The [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] issued its historic [[Brown v. Board of Education|Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka]], 347 U.S. 483, on [[May 17]] [[1954]]. The decision declared all laws establishing [[Racial segregation|segregated schools]] to be [[unconstitutional]], and it called for the [[desegregation]] of all schools in the nation. |
The [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] issued its historic [[Brown v. Board of Education|Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka]], 347 U.S. 483, on [[May 17]] [[1954]]. The decision declared all laws establishing [[Racial segregation|segregated schools]] to be [[unconstitutional]], and it called for the [[desegregation]] of all schools in the nation. |
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Revision as of 18:26, 26 January 2007
 | It has been suggested that Little Rock Crisis be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since November 2006. |
The Little Rock Nine or the Little Rock Crisis refers to an incident in which nine African-American students were prevented from attending Little Rock Central High in 1957 during the Civil Rights Movement.
Brown v. Topeka Board of Education
The U.S. Supreme Court issued its historic Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483, on May 17 1954. The decision declared all laws establishing segregated schools to be unconstitutional, and it called for the desegregation of all schools in the nation. [1] After the decision, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) attempted to register black students in previously all-white schools in cities throughout the South. In Little Rock, the capital city of Arkansas, the Little Rock School Board agreed to comply with the high court's ruling. Virgil Blossom, the Superintendent of Schools, submitted a plan of gradual integration to the school board on May 24 1955, which the board unanimously approved. The plan would be implemented during the 1958 school year, which would begin in Sep. 1957. By 1957, the NAACP had registered nine black students to attend the previously all-white Little Rock Central High, selected on the criteria of excellent grades and attendance. [2]
Several segregationist "citizens' councils" threatened to hold protests at Central High and physically block the black students from entering the school. In response, Governor Orval Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to support the segregationists on 4 September 1957. The sight of a line of soldiers blocking nine black students from attending high school made national headlines and polarized the city. On 9 September 1957, "The Council of Church Women" issued a statement condemning the Governor's deployment of soldiers to the high school and called for a citywide prayer service on 12 September. Even President Dwight Eisenhower attempted to de-escalate the situation and summoned Governor Faubus to his vacation home in Newport, Rhode Island, on 14 September 1957. The president warned the governor not to interfere with the Supreme Court's ruling. [3]
Attorneys from the U.S. Justice Department requested an injunction against the Governor's deployment of the National Guard from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas in Little Rock. Judge Ronald Davies granted the injunction and ordered the Governor to withdraw the National Guard on September 20 1957. [4]
The Governor backed down and withdrew the National Guard, and the Little Rock Police Department took their place. Hundreds of protesters, mostly parents of the white students attending Central High, remained entrenched in front of the school. On Monday, 23 September 1957, the police quietly sneaked the nine students into the school. When the protesters learned that the nine black students were inside, they began confronting the outnumbered line of policemen. Under threat of a near riot, the nine students were escorted out of the school. [5]
The next day, Woodrow Mann, the Mayor of Little Rock, asked President Eisenhower to send federal troops to enforce integration and protect the nine students. The President deployed the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army to escort the students to school on September 25 1957. The paratroopers of the division remained at the school for the rest of the school year. [6]
Nevertheless, the citizens' council continued to protest and pressured the Little Rock School Board into reversing its decision to desegregate the public schools. In August 1958, with support from Governor Faubus and the Arkansas State Legislature, the school board canceled the entire 1959 school year for its three high schools rather than integrate them. Thousands of high school students left the city to attend high schools in other school districts, or enrolled in all-white private schools. One year later, additional federal court rulings and the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce pressured the school board into reopening the school system. By the fall of 1959, Little Rock public schools had reopened as an integrated school system. [2]
Little Rock Central High
By the end of September 1957, the nine were admitted to Little Rock Central High under the protection of the U.S. Army, but they were still subjected to a year of physical and verbal abuse by many of the white students. One of the students, Minnijean Brown was verbally confronted by a group of male white students in December 1957 in the school cafeteria during lunch. She dumped a bowl of chili on the boy's head and was expelled from school. She later transferred to New Lincoln High School in New York City. [2]
The Little Rock Nine were:
- Ernest Green
- Elizabeth Eckford
- Jefferson Thomas
- Terrence Roberts
- Carlotta Walls Lanier
- Minnijean Brown-Trickey
- Gloria Ray Karlmark
- Thelma Mothershed-Wair
- Melba Pattillo Beals
Analysis
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Governor Faubus
Governor Faubus's opposition to desegregation may have been politically rather than racially motivated. Faubus had indicated that he would consider bringing Arkansas into compliance with the high court's decision in 1956. However, desegregation was opposed by his own southern Democratic Party, which dominated all Southern politics at the time. Faubus, a Democrat, risked losing political support from his own party in the upcoming 1958 gubernatorial primary if he showed support for integration.
Congressman Brooks Hays, who tried to mediate the standoff between the federal government and Faubus, was later defeated by a last minute write-in candidate, Dale Alford, a member of the Little Rock School Board who had the backing of Faubus's allies. A few years later, despite the incident with the "Little Rock Nine", Faubus ran as a moderate segregationist against Dale Alford, who was challenging Faubus for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1962.
Eisenhower's deployment of federal troops was charactered by some white southerners as a "second invasion", in reference to the Civil War and Reconstruction. This accusation was repeated in other federal interventions, such as the US Marshals who escorted James Meredith to University of Mississippi in 1960. As such, segregationists were just as hostile and confrontational with the "invaders" as they were to the black students.
Legacy
During their ordeal, the Little Rock Nine were advised by Little Rock journalist and activist Daisy Bates. Bates and the Little Rock Nine received the Spingarn Medal in 1958. The Little Rock Nine were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor on November 9 1999.
In 1996, seven of the Little Rock Nine appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. They came face to face with a few of the white students who tormented them as well as one student who befriended them.
Little Rock Central High School still functions as part of the Little Rock School District and now houses a Civil Rights Museum to commemorate the events of 1957. [7]
Little Rock Crisis
The Little Rock Crisis of 1957 was a major event during the American Civil Rights Movement.
The Little Rock crisis of 1957 was an event that gained worldwide attention as Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas called out the National Guard on September 4 to prevent nine African-American students (known as the Little Rock Nine) from attending Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
This act was in defiance of Federal court orders and the US Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that called for the racial desegregation of public schools.
Faubus's order set him on a collision course with President Dwight D. Eisenhower who was determined to enforce the orders of the Federal courts.
Eisenhower federalized the National Guard and ordered them to return to their barracks. Eisenhower then deployed elements of the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock to protect the students.
Little Rock Central High School still functions as part of the Little Rock School District and now houses a Civil Rights Museum to commemorate the events of 1957.
See also
Notes
- ^ Warren, Earl, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Cornell Law School. Brown v. Topeka Board of Education.
- ^ a b c Craig Rains. Little Rock Central High 40th Anniversity.
- ^ "Retreat from Newport," Time. Monday, 23 September 1957.
- ^ "Case No. 3113," Time. Monday, 30 September 1957.
- ^ Front Pages of the Arkansas Democrat and Arkansas Gazette. Little Rock 1957.
- ^ "Lavatory Level," Time. Monday, 21 October 1957.
- ^ National Park Service. Little Rock Central High School, National Historic Site.
References
- The Tiger, Student Paper of Little Rock Central High.
- "Civil Rights", Kids Discover, Volume 16, Issue 1, ISSN 1054-2868, January 2006.
- Beals, Melba Pattillo. Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High. (ISBN 0-671-86638-9)
- Kirk, John A, Redefining the Color Line: Black Activism in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1940-1970 (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2002)
External links
- The Eisenhower Archives website gives primary documents in the case [2].
- Facing History and Ourselves.
- National Park Service. Little Rock Central High School, National Historic Site.