Essay On I Love Lucy Show And Justice For All

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And Justice For All

"Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education."

-John Fitzgerald Kennedy

It is the fall of 1950. Harry S. Truman is the President of the United States of

America. The "I Love Lucy Show," starring Lucille Ball, enters its first television

season. As the world revolves around them, two young girls are winding down from

summer vacation and preparing for the arrival of school. Tina and Lynn have lived in the

same neighborhood all of their lives. They both love to roller-skate down the street,

shrieking with laughter. They like to collect shiny marbles and trade secrets while they

play jacks. Tina and Lynn are the best of friends, oblivious to the fact …show more content…

Melba Patillo Beals, says 41 years later, "I

think it made me a stronger person, really; it made me realize people are all the same, that

you should judge people by what's in their hearts, not by the color of their skin" (Beals

196).

Governor Orville Faubus posted the National Guard at the entrance of the school

to prevent the Little Rock Nine from entering the school on September 2, 1957. On

September 23, an uncontrollable riot had broken out and President Eisenhower was

forced to respond. He called in the 101st Airborne to restore order and to protect the

Black students. For the entire school year, the federal troops escorted the students to

class. In 1958, Governor Faubus shut down the entire public school system rather than

comply with the court's orders. Another lawsuit was filed and the Supreme Court ruled

that the state of Arkansas must reopen its schools and become integrated (Harris 54-56).

It was one thing to demand an end to segregation, but it was another thing to

achieve it. Initially, school districts that were ordered to eliminate the dual …show more content…

This was also known as enrollment plans, theoretically allowing black students

to attend white schools on the other side of town. Minority-to-majority is similar to

freedom-of-choice. Students who were part of the majority race. These two plans

suffered from a lack of participation. The magnet schools on the other hand, had a more

successful result. The magnet schools offered advanced programs and enhanced

curriculums that were designed to attract the most intelligent of all races. Because the

academic requirements were high; there was a quota for the number of students admitted,

and added financial costs, voluntary participation was limited (Blausterin 122-129).

In December 1977, the Seattle, Washington school board voted to approve a

Comprehensive citywide student assignment plan, "designed to desegregate the city's

112 schools over a two-year period called the Seattle Plan. Seattle set a national record.

No other major American city has voluntarily adopted a comprehensive mandatory

program of school desegregation. The Seattle school board took this unprecedented

action to avoid a threatened lawsuit and years of court (Futtrell

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