Little Rock Nine Final Draft

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Roujina Abdelaziz

Literature

Mrs. V

Little Rock Nine Final Draft:

Have you ever been worried or really nervous to start at a completely new school as a new student? Have you ever walked shamefully down the hallway while being spit at or harassed just because of your race? Imagine being an African American and having to start a new school in a racist and cruel white environment like the Little Rock Nine had to. They had to go through many hard obstacles to become the successful people they are today. The Little Rock Nine changed civil rights in their own time and today by staying brave in the face of violent interrogation, setting a model for equal educational opportunities, and creating an example for those looking for equal opportunities.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas on May 17, 1954. The decision of the court declared all laws initiating schools are unconstitutional. This triggered the desegregation of schools throughout the entire nation. After this decision, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People also known as the NAACP started to try to register black students in all-white schools throughout the South. In Little Rock, Arkansas, the Little Rock School Board agreed to follow the new law of the high court. The Superintendent of Schools, Virgil Blossom created and gave a plan of gradual integration to the Board of Education on May 24, 1955, which the school board randomly approved. The plan would be invoked during the 1957 school year, which began on September 1957. By 1957, the NAACP registered nine black students to attend a previous all white school called Little Rock Central High. The students were selected on the fact of excellent grades, behavior and attendance. The nine students that were selected were Thelma Mothershed, Melba Pattilo, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Minniejean Brown, Carlotta Williams, Jefferson Thomas, Terrance Roberts, and Gloria Ray.

The plan that was created was called The Blossom Plan. The plan went through many different changes. The finalized plan started in September 1957 and targeted one high school, Little Rock Central High School. The second phase of the plan took place and opened up only some middle schools to very few black children. The final stage involved limited desegregation of the city's grade schools. Of course whites were given a way bigger advantage over the blacks. Whites were given the choice of whether or not they wanted to attend a desegregated school. Blacks were not given this advantage. They were forced to attend the school they were placed into. This new Blossom Plan did not fit well with the NAACP. After many failed discussions with the school board, the NAACP decided to file a lawsuit on February 8, 1956. The lawsuit, along with number of other problems resulted in the Little Rock School Crisis of 1957.

  After a continued series of legal actions the Federal District of the Little Rock School District proceeded with their same plans when the school opened on September 3, 1957. Governor Orval Faubus the Arkansas National Guard came to Little Rock Central High School on September 2, 1957 because he claimed he had evidence, which was later proven false that there was "Imminent danger of tumult, riot and breach of peace and the doing of violence to persons and property." According to Faubus in order to "accomplish the mission of maintaining or restoring law and order and to preserve the peace, health, safety and security of the citizens of Pulaski County, Arkansas". He ordered the State Headquarters Detachment, the Base Detachment and any other units to restore peace. Major Sherman T. Clinger made a force of 289 soldiers and placed Lieutenant Colonel Marion Johnson in charge of them. On September 4, 1957, African American students who were simply trying to enter school were told to go home. The National Guard decreased the men to fifteen for both day and night shifts. By

order of the court the National Guard was switched by the Little Rock City Police and took over on September 20, 1957.

On Monday, September 23, 1957, the little rock nine for the second time tried entering the building of their new and frightening school, but again they walked straight into another problem. When the word spread that the black students were inside the school, a crowd of about 1,000 people gathered outside the school. There was a concern that police would not be able to control the huge crowd, but tensions calmed down when the nine black students were removed. President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard later that day. Unit members assembled at home stations at night. The president ordered the National Guard to support the integration instead of blocking it, like they did today. On September 24th, the 101st Airborne Division started arriving at Little Rock Central High School to provide extra support and take position around Central High School. That same day General Clinger met with the commander of the Arkansas Military District and they were ordered to make a force of duty at Camp Robinson in Central High. The force consisted of 107 officers, fifteen warrant officers and 1,184 enlisted men. The National Guard soldiers leader said "Our mission is to enforce the orders of the federal courts with respect to the attendance at the public schools of Little Rock of all those who are properly enrolled and to maintain law and order while doing so. Our individual feelings towards those court orders should have no influence on our execution of the mission." One Arkansas Guard major also said, "We have been ordered to maintain the peace and that is what we intend to do." The rest of the Arkansas National Guard units stayed at home stations, and training, but did not take any action in the actual operations at the chaotic High School. 

No matter what they did, the little rock nine knew they were not wanted around. They were in danger and needed to have protection on school campus. The Arkansas National Guards were responsible for accompanying the black students to and from Central High and protecting them while they were inside the school. Although they had protection, they still had a year full of extreme physical and verbal abuse such as being spat on and being called horrible and insensitive names by the white students. Melba Pattillo had acid thrown into her eyes and almost went blind. She also had another horrible incident when a group of white girls locked her in a bathroom stall and tried to burn her alive by throwing pieces of flaming paper at her. Another student, Minnijean Brown, was verbally abused. She was also taunted by a group of white male students in the school cafeteria during lunch. She intentionally dropped a bowl of chili on the boys and was suspended for six days. Several months later, they suspended her for the rest of the school year. The white students were punished only when they were "both egregious and witnessed by an adult" said Brown.

The little rock nine went through things no person or students ever deserve to go through. But they did not let any of that get in their way of success. Despite all the cruelty, bullying, beating, and problems each student lives a very successful life. Ernest Green an African American student was first to graduate from Central High School. After graduation, he attended and graduated from Michigan State University, and later became an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs for the President at the time Jimmy Carter. Today, Green is the manager, vice president and partner of the company Lehman Brothers in Washington, D.C. Elizabeth Eckford, still living in Little Rock joined the U.S. Army and worked as a journalist. In 1974, she returned home and became a part-time social worker and a mother to her two boys. Jefferson, graduated in 1960, following the year that Little Rock's public high schools were closed by the legislature to stop the desegregation. Jefferson became an accountant at the U.S. Department of Defense. Today, he lives in Anaheim, California. Dr. Terrence Roberts moved to Los Angeles where he graduated from high school. After graduating he went on to bigger and better things. He earned a degree to become a doctor and he also teaches at the University of California in Los Angeles and at Antioch College. He also studied and became a clinical psychologist. Carlotta Lanier graduated from Michigan State University. She lives in Englewood, Colorado, where she is a real estate agent. Minnijean Brown was expelled from Central High. She got married and moved to Canada with her husband during the protests of the Vietnam War. Today she is a social worker and a writer in Ontario.  She also had a documentary filmed about her life by Windstar Productions. Gloria Karlmark graduated from the Illinois Technical College and got a post-graduate degree in Sweden. She studied to become a computer science writer and published magazines in 39 countries. Today retired, she spends all her time in The Netherlands where her husband's family lives. Thelma Mothershed, graduated from college, and then became a teacher. She lives in Belleville, Illinois, where she volunteers in a program for abused women. And lastly, Melba Pattillo is a journalist for NBC and People magazine. She lives in San Francisco.

Although The Little Rock Nine were treated like worthless trash, they fought and risked their lives every single day fighting for equality for blacks all over the country. The little rock nine are a very important part of the civil rights movement. Without the little rock nine, schools today could still be segregated and blacks could still be treated cruelly and unfairly. The brave nine made a difference like no other in the world we live in today and fought through many obstacles to reach all their many life goals.