The Little Rock Nine

In class these past couple days we have been going over the civil rights movement brought about by leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr and their march to make everyone be treated equally. Civil rights is an idea that is important to this day, and I thought it would be interesting to explore a little more about another important moment in the long march for equality: The Little Rock Nine.





Context:
In the 1950s, the United States was very segregated until the decision of Brown v Board of education in 1954. It declared that schools could not segregate based on race or other determining factors, and that separate but equal was unconstitutional However, many states rebelled against this decision, citing it was up to the state to determine segregation laws. In 1957, seventeen southern states still had laws requiring racial segregation of public schools, thus promoting the separate but equal standing.

Although the governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, publicly stated that Arkansas would not allow blacks to enroll in schools, other residents had different intentions. Virgil Blossom, the superintendent of Little Rock Central High School, created the Blossom Plan: a system of gradual integration of blacks into high school. The NCAAP agreed to this plan, and chose nine black students to enroll in the previously all-white school the following September.

On September 4th, the nine students were supposed to attend their first class. However, they were met with hundreds of protesters and segregationists. The governor even sent in the Arkansas National Guard to prevent them from entering the school.

On September 9th, the school district publicly condemned the actions of the governor, but were rendered powerless to do anything. In response the Mayor of Little Rock asked President Dwight Eisenhower for help in this crisis. He would get his answer on September 24th. On that day, Eisenhower ordered the 101st airborne division of the military to serve as an escort for the students. And so these nine students would famously be dubbed the "Little Rock Nine". 

The aftermath of this famous moment in civil rights was not as pretty, as the students were often verbally abused by others, causing some to transfer out. However, they stayed strong and were eventually honored the Medal of Freedom from Bill Clinton. A silver dollar coin was also made to commemorate this moment. 

This moment was important on two grounds. The first ground was the civil rights component. It showed one of the few times where the federal government actually stood up for black rights and actively participated in ensuring its equality. The second ground was concerning the role of government. The most likely reason for Eisenhower to send aid to this incident was not due to his feelings of equality, but rather the power of state and federal government. He wanted to show that states could not simply refuse court ordered mandates and get away with it. Thus, this moment proved once again how the federal government had more power than that of the state. 

Sources:
History textbook, documentary