Brown verdict in action
In
order to abide by the Brown verdict, school officials in Little Rock,
Arkansas began to devise a plan which would aide in desegregating two high
schools in September 1956 and two junior high schools in September 1957.
The school board's gradual plan of integration upset many of the white citizens
and students in Little Rock; the white segregationalists did not want blacks in
their high schools.
The white supremacists were headed by none other than the governor of Arkansas Orville Faubus. Although he had not voiced an opinion before the Brown ruling, he was very much against any sort of integration and emerged as one of the leading white supremacists in the South.
The night before the
integration of Central High, Faubus publicly announced that it would not be
possible to "restore or to maintain order...if forcible integration is carried
out..." He employed 250 members of the Arkansas National Guard to surround
Central High for "protection." In reality, the guards were there to keep
the black students from entering.
Little Rock Nine
Frightened by Faubus' televised disapproval, the nine black students (coined as the Little Rock Nine) decided not to enter the school on their predicted date. Federal district judge Ronald N. Davies demanded that the integration take place the following day. On September 4, eight of the black students approached the school as a group, accompanied by Arkansas NAACP president Daisy Bates. One of the girls, Elizabeth Eckford, arrived alone, unaware of the group's plan to meet and gather as a group. She was chased and nearly lynched by the white crowd that was surrounding the school.
Presidential Intervention
President Eisenhower spoke with Governor Faubus on September 14 after the
unsuccessful integration attempt. He ordered Faubus to abide by court
orders and remove t
he
guardsmen.
Another attempt at integration
On September 23, the Little Rock Nine, once again tried to enter
the high school, but they
were greeted by an angry crowd consisting of thousand white supremacists
who refused to allow the students enter their school. The black students
entered secretly through a side door in order to escape furthenside the school,
they started a rio
t;
they vandalized the school and beat black civilians. On September 24,
Eisenhower authorized 11,500 soldiers and 1,000 paratroopers to Little Rock.
The troops successfully escorted the teenagers into school and patrolled Central
High for several months afterwards to ensure the students' safety. Still,
the young students endured discrimination and threats throughout high school.
Several other schools in the South also began implementing the Brown verdict. Fortunately, almost no high school suffered the same violence as Central High.
