Anoop Randhawa

History 12

US Civil Rights Movement (Blog Post #4)

Little Rock Central High School

● Summary
○ The Little Rock Central High School incident of 1957 in Arkansas brought
international attention to the civil rights cause
■ It brought this issue to the attention of many people who were
unaware of what was occurring in the South
○ US President Eisenhower believed that enforcement would make things
worse for African Americans in the South
■ Instead, he believed that a change of heart was required
■ In 1957, a civil rights bill was being pushed through Congress and
Eisenhower did not support it
● This bill was passed into law in 1957 with a 72 to 14 vote
○ It didn’t do much but it provided people with hope that
the law could be used to change Southern society
○ This was the first civil rights act to pass Congress since
the Civil War
○ The Little Rock school board and the mayor both agreed that efforts should
be made to accept the law desegregating schools
■ But the governor of Arkansas, Orville Faubus, had other ideas
○ On the day before Little Rock Central High School should have accepted nine
African American students, Faubus ordered 270 National Guards troops to
move into the school
■ He felt that the troops were necessary to maintain law and order since
bringing African American students to a white school could cause
trouble
● The troops’ task was to keep out of the white Little Rock
Central High School, nine African American students
○ On the first day of the school year, the nine students did not show up
■ They had been advised by the school board to not show up
○ On the second day, they arrived escorted by two white ministers and two
African American ministers
■ They were stopped from entering the school by the National Guard
● As they were denied entry, they were verbally abused by white
students and adults from Little Rock
○ These horrifying scenes were caught on television and
shown throughout the world
■ Many Americans were shocked at what they
were seeing
○ A federal law was being challenged by a state governor
■ Ironically, only two months earlier Eisenhower had announced that he
would not use Federal troops to enforce desegregation
■ Eisenhower spent 18 days discussing with Faubus and the Little Rock
mayor
● During this time, the African American students stayed at
home and the school continued to be guarded by the National
Guard
 ○ The National Guard only left when a federal court
ordered them to leave
○ On Monday 23rd September, the nine African American students entered the
school by a delivery entrance
■ When a large white mob heard that these students were inside the
school, they became very angry
● African Americans and reporters known to be writing for
northern newspapers in the streets were attacked
○ Only 150 local police were on standby to protect people
from this large group of thugs
■ The police clearly showed sympathy towards
the mob – one took off his badge and simply
walked away
○ The mayor of the city phoned the White House to ask
for Federal aid
■ He feared a total breakdown of law and order
■ The nine students were moved out of the school for their own safety
and sent home
■ Eisenhower did nothing
● He simply asked for the mob to go home
○ The next day (the 24th of September) another white hate mob showed up at
the school
■ This time Eisenhower was forced to send in 1,100 paratroopers to
establish law and order
■ He also federalized the Arkansas National Guard and put it under
Washington’s command
● These actions were not to support desegregation but to
establish law
● This was the first time since the end of the Civil War and
Reconstruction that federal troops had been sent to the South
to help the African American community there
● But, Eisenhower’s actions pleased no one
○ The north and west felt that he had been too slow in
sending federal troops
○ The South turned on one of their own (Eisenhower was
from the South)
● The paratroopers stayed until the end of November
● The National Guardsmen stayed for one year
○ Eight of the nine students stayed for the whole academic year
■ One of them, Ernest Green, graduated to college
■ During their time at school, the students were regularly spat at by a
small but nasty minority
■ The school’s principal had his life threatened and threats were made
to bomb the school
○ Faubus was re-elected for another four terms as governor of Arkansas
■ In the academic year 1958-1959, instead of accepting desegregation,
he closed all schools in Little Rock
 ● Little Rock Central High School did not open up with a
desegregated school population until 1960
○ As late as 1964, only 3% of African American children
attended desegregated schools
■ There was no point in forcing desegregation of
schools if the students there did not want it to
work
● What was it about this event/topic that stood out for you?
○ When I saw the topic “Little Rock Central High School”, I was immediately
drawn to this event
■ This is because the topic had to do with high school, an environment
that I am very familiar with
● I have attended high school for the past five years
■ I also became very curious as to how a high school would have to do
anything with the US Civil Rights Movement
● This was also the first time I had heard about this incident,
which made me even more drawn to learning about the event
● Why did this event/topic resonate with you?
○ First and foremost, this event made me feel frustrated and even angry
■ These African American students were being stripped of their right to
be educated merely because some government officials believed that
schools should not be desegregated
● Due to these attitudes, these students often had to stay at
home while white students received an education and other
opportunities
○ The African American students were being directly
affected due to unfair treatment
○ Secondly, I was shocked and devastated when I heard about the details of
this event
■ Here are only a few of the horrific details:
● The African American students had to be escorted to school
● Not to mention, at school, these students were met with the
National Guards troops as well as verbal abuse by white
students and adults
● Other members of the African American community and its
supporters were being attacked by angry white mobs on the
streets
● Majority of the local police members supported the white hate
mobs
○ Just imagine both the physical and mental impacts of
these events on the African American community
■ School is meant to be a safe space, where one
feels comfortable and wanted
● But, at the Little Rock Central High
School, the African American students
had to live their student lives in fear
 ○ There’s no doubt as to why these
students did not want to attend
desegregated schools
■ On the streets of Little Rock, no member nor
supporter of the African American community
felt safe
● Even the local police was no help to the
African Americans
● There was barely anyone that they could
look to for support
■ Who do the African Americans go to when the police and government
officials are supporting racist, unfair policies/treatment?
■ How could the African American students want to sign up for
desegregated schools when they know that here they will be
frequently discriminated against?