Little Rock Nine Research Paper

Heroes come in many shapes, sizes, and colors… They all have something in common, which is (Grit) passion, perseverance, and courage. The Little Rock Nine is a group of 9 African American students who showed Grit. Firstly, The Little Rock Nine showed perseverance despite the racial hostility depicted in the community. For instance, they were spat on, embarrassed on a daily basis, and continuously harassed with vulgar terms.

The message was clear: African Americans were not wanted (“Integration of Central High School”). Roberts writes, “‘It took an incredible amount of bravery from those nine students to face what was real terrorism and mob violence,” says Alvin Tillery, a professor of political science and African-American studies at Northwestern University in Illinois. “Elizabeth Eckford being threatened, harassed, and spat on, and her calm resistance became an iconic symbol of the civil rights movement.’” Lots of rioting broke out when the governor announced that central high school would be integrated. More than 1,000 white people against the Little Rock nine gathered to protest.

Board of Education of Topeka case, the supreme court struck down the segregation laws in schooling. Needless to say white people of the south were not happy. A town in Arkansas called Little Rock decided they were going to do everything within their power to keep their schools, including Little Rock Central High school from being integrated. When nine black students, soon known as the Little Rock Nine, first tried to attend the school they were barred from entrance by protesters, and the National Guard, who had been called in by Governor Orval Faubus. Eight of the students had showed up together and had left when they saw the extent of the protesters.

After the revolutionary Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Warren Supreme Court fought for the integration of schools. After the Little Rock Nine plight, then-Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus closed all of the black-area schools “until a Supreme Court ruling forced them to reopen in 1959” (Brooks, King, and Osborne 40). During the plight for integrated school systems, the states of the Union were acting as the Divided States and autonomously passing laws. The Warren Court utilized their constitutional power to resurrect the true purpose of the United States and redefined the role of a state. Before the Little Rock Nine, Earl Warren and his Supreme Court did started their activism, backing the Montgomery Bus Boycotts in 1956 and affirming a lower court ruling that “any law requiring racially segregated seating on buses violated the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution” (“Montgomery Bus Boycott”).

September 4th, 1957, was their first try. Governor Orval Faubas had the Arkansas National Guard arrive at the school to prevent the students from going into the school. None of the nine got in because of this. There were also around a thousand whites protesting the school’s integration outside, against the nine going to the school. The Little Rock Nine were forced to leave.

Little Rock Nine took a stand for blacks and their rights to attend the same school as white people. The group made a powerful statement that why equal education was so important, equal right, and why segregation was so important. Today I will be talking about all four subtitles. Equal education was a huge part of our history in Rock, Arkansas for African Americans like The Little Rock Nine because white people always thought they always needed to have higher educations that black people. On September 4, 1957, the Little Rock Nine arrived for their first day at Central High.

The crowd outside of the schools chanted “Two, four, six, eight… We ain’t gonna integrate!”(Little Rock Nine - Encyclopedia of Arkansas). Those people were against sharing the facility with African Americans and refused to have them there. The teens had to experience a huge crowd of people yelling against when they were trying to integrate. The Little Rock Nine had to deal with the conflicts and acts upon them with correct behavior on their side.

On March 15, 1965, during the height of the civil rights movement, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered a famous speech entitled We Shall Overcome to a joint session of congress. His speech revolved around the oppression of certain groups at the time and the actions which both congress and all Americans must take in order to overcome the adversity presented by roadblocks to social progress. While his speech mainly focused on the right to vote, the ideas contained within spoke beyond this and ultimately looked at what it means for America to be on the top of the world stage, both from a legal and individual perspective. His speech spoke directly to the American people with lines such as “Because it’s not just Negroes, but really it’s all of

Many different groups in the United States have fought for their equal rights through civil rights battles. Each one inspiring the next, slowly transforming America into the country it is today. Some of these battles have come a long way, since the beginning of history for a lot, some of which are still in the mist of being fought, some of which made huge improvements yet still haven’t reached full equality. Through the many steps taken in marches, and blood and tears shed though the riots, all these battles though has change the way Americans see one another and their country. Going for the common goal of equality, these civil rights movements have changed America for the greater good.

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

Little Rock Nine targeted the current segregation that was wide spread at the time, by drawing attention from the African Americans entering into the high school, the entire nation was brought into the conflict. Nine African American students were up against 1,900 white students in one school. One of the student members of the Little Rock Nine, Patillo Beals, stated that she had a “bounty” to her head. The student council of the school offered ten thousand dollars for her to be dead. African American students like Patillo Beals would have to go through verbal abuses and racism, just to get the quality education that they deserve.

Little Rock Central High School integration The Little Rock Central High School incident involved nine black students, called the Little Rock Nine, attending school at the formerly whites only school. The backlash and protests of this incident were brought on by the racist attitude that had overtaken America and the belief that schools should be kept segregated. It lead to more enforcement by the federal government regarding the integration of schools, and helped African Americans gain their equal treatment in school. The goal of this civil rights event was to integrate schools across the United States and show that black students were just as smart as their white counterparts.

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.

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.