Little Rock Nine

The Constitution limits power on Government through Checks and Balances. In a 1944 case between Korematsu and the United States during World War II, a presidential executive order gave the military authority to exclude citizens of Japanese descent from areas deemed critical to national defense and potentially vulnerable to espionage. Along with this they also arrested Japanese Americans and forced them into internment camps. Korematsu however, a US citizen from ancestry descent, refused to leave his home in San Leandro, California. Korematsu appealed, and in 1944 the case reached the Supreme Court.

Due to the decades of tradition and practice of integration, they did not believe that it should happen. The parents of the children would protest in front of Central High chanting “Two, four, six, eight. We ain't gonna integrate”(147). The parents believed that since they were white they had the upper hand when it came to civil rights. The issue of integration had been a problem in Arkansas for years but it had finally become real when Judge Davies ruled that it was okay for the Little Rock Nine to attend Central High.

To begin with, “Little Rock 9” experienced hate because of the fact that they are black, or African American. For example, “They taunted the black students and sometimes kicked and hit them” (5). This proves that the “Little Rock 9” faced hate in the form of harassment because they would get kicked and hit. This demonstrates hate because they are treated unfairly for no good reason. They are physically and mentally abused for a the fact that they are different.

When the nine black students tried to attend an all-white school on September 4, 1957, although they had the right, they were denied. Not only were they denied the right from the students but from adults and people of political influence in Arkansas. The Little Rock Nine were part of a major part of the Civil Rights movement and consisted of three boys and six girls. Central High School was the first high school in the south to set to be desegregated since the United States Supreme Court had ruled in Brown vs Board of Education, that separate education was unconstitutional. Inspired, Elizabeth wanted to become a lawyer, and she thought Central would help her realize that dream.

The story of the Little Rock Nine takes place in the Spring of 1957, and there were 517 African American students who lived in the Central High School District located in Little Rock, Arkansas. Although, eighty students took an interest in accompanying Central during the fall semester. These African American students had the opportunity to be interviewed by the Little Rock School Board. Out of the results of the interview, seventeen of the eighty African American students were eligible to attend Central High School. As the Central High School fall semester began, only nine of the seventeen students decided to attend Central High School.

Little Rock Nine is known as an Epic event. An Epic event consists, of an outstanding hero, have Epic traits, the setting is vast, the actions are of great valor, have supernatural forces and determines the future of the people. Little Rock Nine were nine African Americans who opposed racial segregation in public schools by attending all white schools. The group consisted of Melba Pattillo, Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Minnijean Brown, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls, Jefferson Thomas, Gloria Ray, and Thelma Mothershed. The students attended school on the second day of school, but the governor of Arkansas sent police to block the entrance of the school.

The Little Rock Nine, a group of nine young African American students, took a dynamic stand for people of color, specifically in the South, in 1957. During the time of the Segregation Era, schools were divided by the color of a person’s skin. Schools in which there were only all white or all black people attending them during the time. A group of nine African American students called The Little Rock Nine would be the first blacks to attend Central High School, Arkansas thus making great change in the history of today. The Little Rock Nine took a stand against a segregated society, created friction within the education system, and challenged racist people, resulting in a change in society and life for people of color today.

The integration of Central High was a long and arduous process. Being a major part of civil rights history, it revealed how racist people can be. But how did society learn about this? The answer to that is quite simple: Media. The books, A Mighty Long Way, by Carlotta Walls LaNier and Little Rock Girl 1957, by Shelly Tougas both show ways media was used.

In 1957, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas’s decision, segregation in public education violated the Fourteen Amendment, but Central High School refused to desegregate their school. Even though various school districts agreed to the court ruling, Little Rock disregarded the board and did not agree to desegregate their schools, but the board came up with a plan called the “Blossom plan” to form integration of Little Rock High despite disputation from Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus. Desegregating Central high encountered a new era of achievement of black folks into the possibility of integrating public schools, and harsh resistance of racial integration. Although nine black students were admitted into Little Rock harsh violence and

The segregation of schools based on a students skin color was in place until 1954. On May 17th of that year, during the Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education, it was declared that separate public schools for black and white students was unconstitutional. However, before this, the segregation of schools was a common practice throughout the country. In the 1950s there were many differences in the way that black public schools and white public schools were treated with very few similarities. The differences between the black and white schools encouraged racism which made the amount of discrimination against blacks even greater.

Little Rock Nine “They found themselves in the middle of a tug a war between federal and state power”(Kirk). The students hunger for equality sparked a change that would affect America greatly. Little Rock Nine inspired many African Americans to stand up for themselves and stand against racism. They also helped desegregate schools which later lead to the desegregation of other public areas. Little Rock Nine was an inspiration to the 1960’s as seen through their background, impact, and contributions.

The “Little Rock Nine” took one of the biggest stands in history by proving that whites and blacks can get along and go to school

Even though the media displayed false information about the 1957 integration of Little Rock Central High School it changed peoples views on segregation. In A Mighty Long Way Little Rock, Arkansas nine African American students wanted to go to a well educated high school but they do not understand why so many people are angered that they are just getting a better education. During the integration of Little Rock Central High School in 1957, the media illuminated certain events and painted an inaccurate or incomplete picture of other events. The media illuminates many important events that show how racist white people are treating black people and showing people in the North who are against segregation and support integration.

When the news media reported on this picture it showed the rest of the world that many people in Little Rock were against integration and they would heckle the Little Rock Nine, so they wouldn’t want to go to Central. The news media also captured many people’s reactions to the Little Rock Nine going into Central. Benjamin Fine who

First off, the governor closed all the schools in Little Rock, so no one could attend. Not only were all the students greatly affected, but the families of the Little Rock Nine had the more major punishments. Many of them were quickly fired from their jobs to reduce more conflicts with business. Once the schools were finally opened back up, each of the nine students were separated throughout the different schools, which caused even more awareness that schools needed to become desegregated. The impact that the Little Rock Nine had on today is the fact schools are all officially desegregated.