The Little Rock Nine
By Michael O'Sullivan
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The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine black students from Little Rock, Arkansas who not only stood up for their right to an equal education but changed the course of history in the segregated regions of the United States forever. With the support of the U.S. federal government and Supreme Court, African Americans of the segregated South never felt more empowered and capable of breaking the chains of Jim Crow. On September 25th, 1957, Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Thelma Mothershed, and Melba Pattillo Beals, (Bland) entered through the front entrance of Central High School in Little Rock. This was the first time blacks and whites had attended public high school together in segregated regions of the South. The Little Rock Nine sent a national message that blacks were no longer going to be held down by discriminatory morals of the South and they were more than within their legal boundaries to demand equality.
The "Little Rock Nine" Timeline of Events
September 2nd, 1957
A day before the new school year begins, Governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, summons the national guard to surround Central High School and block any attempts of black students from entering the school. |
September 4th, 1957
Nine black students, known as the "Little Rock Nine" attempt to enter Central High School but are turned away by the national guard. |
September 23rd, 1957
Little Rock police officers and over 1,000 integration protestors surround the school in anticipation of the black students' attempt to enter the school. The police bring the students into the school's side door without notice. As the mob discovers the children have entered, in fear tensions will escalate, the students are led out a side door by officers before noon. |
September 24th, 1957
U.S. congressman Brooks Hayes and Little Rock Mayor Woodrow Mann send telegram to President Eisenhower seeking aid in Little Rock. Eisenhower replaces guardsmen in Little Rock, under the control of Governor Faubus, with National guardsmen under federal control. |
September 25th, 1957
Under the protection of federal troops, the Little Rock Nine entered through the front entrance of Central High School. Aggressive white mobs verbally attacked the the students and physically assaulted black reporters covering the affair. The event was seen worldwide. |
The “Little Rock Nine” were able to successfully challenge Jim Crow and discrimination through the manipulation of Supreme Court rulings to motivate their actions and support their claims to racial equality. This presence of the Supreme Court became significant to blacks beginning in 1896 in the case of Plessy vs. Fergusson. Plessy was an African American man charged for sitting in a white only car of a Louisiana train. Plessy challenged the 1890 Louisianna statute to which allowed railroad owners to segregate trains under the provision that accommodations were separate but equal. Although there was quite a contrast between the condition of the black only train car in comparison to the whites only train car, in favor of the whites of course, the separate but equal provision erected from the 1890 Louisiana statue could not be refuted by the constitution as “all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are made citizens of the U.S. and the state therein.” (Bland, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow) Therefore, the constitution allowed states to legislate and judicially carry out their own laws as long as they were backed by the constitution. Even if Jim Crow laws, such as the Louisiana Statute of 1890, challenged the black's rights in the pursuit of life, liberty and property, as supposedly guaranteed by the 14th amendment, the legality of this is factor is contradicted by the 13th amendment since it "outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude except as a punishment for a crime, which was only legally plausible if there was a state of bondage present." (Bland, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow) This ruling, which appeared to be yet another cop out for the south in favor of discrimination, set a precedent which stated that the separation of black and white facilities were constitutional as long as they were equal.
On May 17, 1954 what would become known as the Jim Brown decision had reached a verdict in the Supreme Court. The case was between the parents of eight year old Linda Brown, an African American elementary school girl, and her local board of education. The conflict at hand occurred after Linda was forced to travel a great distance to attend an all black school while white children were attending school only a few blocks away. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that "racial segregation in public schools violated the 14th amendment in that a sense of a child having to attend a lesser educational facility conveys an idea of inferiority that affects the child’s motivation to learn." (Brown v. Board) Furthermore, it was determined that in the doctrine of education "separate and equal" (Brown v. Board) had no place.
The Little Rock Nine were able to capitalize on this ruling only 3 years after it occurred in order to finally cross into a threshold of public school racial integration in the South. Not only were they capable, intelligent and motivated African American students who opposed Jim Crow laws that restricted their ability to learn, but they were now granted the support of the federal government and the action of President Eisenhower as he overrode discriminatory state jurisdiction. Without these two Supreme Court rulings and support from Eisenhower, Jim Crow would have continued to oppress African Americans and education in the South as it had for so many decades before.
On May 17, 1954 what would become known as the Jim Brown decision had reached a verdict in the Supreme Court. The case was between the parents of eight year old Linda Brown, an African American elementary school girl, and her local board of education. The conflict at hand occurred after Linda was forced to travel a great distance to attend an all black school while white children were attending school only a few blocks away. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that "racial segregation in public schools violated the 14th amendment in that a sense of a child having to attend a lesser educational facility conveys an idea of inferiority that affects the child’s motivation to learn." (Brown v. Board) Furthermore, it was determined that in the doctrine of education "separate and equal" (Brown v. Board) had no place.
The Little Rock Nine were able to capitalize on this ruling only 3 years after it occurred in order to finally cross into a threshold of public school racial integration in the South. Not only were they capable, intelligent and motivated African American students who opposed Jim Crow laws that restricted their ability to learn, but they were now granted the support of the federal government and the action of President Eisenhower as he overrode discriminatory state jurisdiction. Without these two Supreme Court rulings and support from Eisenhower, Jim Crow would have continued to oppress African Americans and education in the South as it had for so many decades before.