'18 History Discussion Piece

I remember being specifically appreciated for putting in the hours in doing more than a reading exercise prior to class. "It probably took more than 2 hours". More than that, I saw what happened during World war history topic reviews and half of the time went into the issues in sources. I was disturbed by the lack of accurate detail. I'm glad I found this. I lost that biography of Antarctica.

In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. In reality, many Southern states resisted its implementation and one of the most famous examples of that resistance happened in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1957, it became a focal point in the fight for civil rights. Nine African American teens, known as the Little Rock Nine, were chosen to attend the all-white Little Rock Central High School as part of the school board’s gradual desegregation plan. The school board had agreed to slowly start integrating the schools, though not everyone supported.

On September 2nd 1957, the night before the teens were ready to start classes, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to block their entry. Faubus claimed this was to maintain order. They arrived on September 4 but were turned away by the Arkansas National Guard and confronted by an angry white mob of segregationists who shouted threats, epithets and slurs. The teens faced intense physical harassment and violence. Families received telephone death threats. This was never about just the school only. On September 20th, a federal court ordered the removal of the Guard for what they actually intended to represent and achieve. On September 23rd, teens entered the school through a side entrance until a huge mob of over 1000 white segregationists gathered outside to continue creating a hostile environment to an extent of trying to shove through police lines and damaged property. The teens were evacuated from the school the same day.

On September 24th, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10730. He federalized the Arkansas National Guard. This was now was put under the authority of the U.S. government and not just governor's control. The Guard now had to take orders from the federal government. Eisenhower also deployed 101st Airborne, an elite combat troop best known for its role in WWII like the D-Day landings, as a visible force to protect. If some Guard units might still resist and not abide by the federal orders, 101st Airborne was the answer. This was the first time since Reconstruction that federal troops were sent to the South to enforce civil rights.

Little Rock Nine entered the school on September 25th under military escort and started attending school. This was not the end. Daily harassment, verbal abuse, isolation, and physical intimidation from white students. School officials and faculty were notably reluctant and/or unable to give enough protection. In May 1958, Ernest Green became the first African American student to graduate from Central High School. Persistence had won but they were put through no young person, a school-going adolescent, deserves to experience.

The Little Rock Crisis did not end school segregation, but it was very important moment in the civil rights movement. It showed the persisting bravery of the nine young adolescents who faced everyday hostility for going to school. It showed that federal actions had to be taken to enforce constitutional rights when state and local governments refused to comply. It was about widespread systemic racism across the country. Some said the media exaggerated the events, but the problem was true, serious and much intense.