Many events and people stand tall on the battlefield of segregation; Rosa Parks refusal to leave her seat, Martin Luther King Jr. famous “I have a dream (Struggle for Equality: Quotes From Martin Luther King, Jr., 1996)” speech, and countless other events like them. But one event that in particular stands tall as a distinguishing icon of the struggle against oppression: The Little Rock Nine. This group of black students broke down the barriers of segregation with non-violent methods; and despite the bitter social and political environment, became great people in our nation who continue to serve as icons of freedom. As members of the combined race of humans, all people have the moral obligation to stand beside the Little Rock Nine in their efforts to advance equity and social justice for all.
The events of the Little Rock Nine Crisis, which took place nearly a hundred years after the end of the Civil War, happened in land still divided by unfair laws and differing cultures. However, it was no longer warfare between the south and north threatening the wellbeing of the country, but instead the segregation of African-Americans. With the dark shade of ethnic prejudice hanging low over the country, a feeling that change was needed had spread across the United States. The desegregation movement was just beginning and the effect of the Little Rock Integration Crisis was one of the earliest stepping-stones leading towards a nation of united race and culture. This history changing event helped create new standards of integration, while setting an example to the rest of the world that old methods of segregation would no longer be accepted.
In the early 1950’s, racial segregation was widely accepted across the nation. African-Americans an...
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Cozzens, L. (1998, Jul 14). Public Schools Shut Down. Retrieved 4 20, 2011, from Watson.org: http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/school-integration/lilrock/shutdown.html
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Melba Pattilo Beals. (96, 11 4). Retrieved 4 19, 2011, from Good Reads: www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/204351.Melba Pattillo Beals
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Struggle for Equality: Quotes From Martin Luther King, Jr. (1996). Retrieved 4 20, 2011, from Scholastic: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4812
In 1950's America, there was a uprising that would sculpt the world into the place we now inhabit. The particular event in question is one concerning the black communities plight in 1950's America, with names such such as Rosa Parks, Emmett Till and (most importantly), Elizabeth Eckford Heading the list of names who took a stand, and, in turn, made America the place it is today. As the years went by, details of the many riots the segregation incurred were documented. The focus of this essay will be on a particular documentation titled 'The Long Shadow of Little Rock', a book published in 1962 on what happened to Elizabeth Eckford in Little Rock, Arkansas. However, just what can we learn from this Document?
Board of Education, Melba Pattillo Beals will always be known as one of the first black students to go to a white school. Her race have hoped of this for years now, and the Little Rock Nine had made it with the support of the general army. People went as far as to hurt them, resulting as far for the government to support nine black students. This is what it takes to charge forward, or to hit a home run like Jackie Robinson.
Younge, Gary. "America dreaming: the horrors of segregation bound the US civil rights movement together. Fifty years on from Martin Luther King's great speech, inequality persists--but in subtler ways." New Statesman [1996] 23 Aug. 2013: 20+. Student Resources in Context. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.
Segregation was a terribly unfair law that lasted about a hundred years in the United States. A group of High school students (who striked for better educational conditions) were a big factor in ending segregation in the United States. Even though going on strike for better conditions may have negative impacts, African Americans were not treated equally in education because of segregation and the Jim Crow laws were so unfair and the black schools were in terrible condition compared to the whites’.
"Legal and Political Chronology of Civil Rights." African-American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 25 Nov. 2011.
Another important reason being the unions wanting to prove their power. Closing down schools is one of the most militant actions to fight for their rights. When there was a non-skills negotiation between the school boards and the teachers unions, unions respond
* Orfield, Gary. Dismantling desegregation : the quit reversal of Brown vs. Board of Education. New York: W.W. norton & Company, 1996.
In the book Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals, the author describes what her reactions and feelings are to the racial hatred and discrimination she and eight other African-American teenagers received in Little Rock, Arkansas during the desegregation period in 1957. She tells the story of the nine students from the time she turned sixteen years old and began keeping a diary until her final days at Central High School in Little Rock. The story begins by Melba talking about the anger, hatred, and sadness that is brought up upon her first return to Central High for a reunion with her eight other classmates. As she walks through the halls and rooms of the old school, she recalls the horrible acts of violence that were committed by the white students against her and her friends.
"Martin Luther King, Jr.: Fighting for Equal Rights in America." Tavaana. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
The Little Rock Nine were part of a broad movement for civil rights that started in 1865 with the 13th amendment and still continues today. Many prominent figures emerged at the forefront of the cause such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, but the Little Rock Nine advanced civil rights in education by beginning the effort to desegregate schools. Their legacy still lives on as one of bravery and perseverance.
Throughout the American South, of many Negro’s childhood, the system of segregation determined the patterns of life. Blacks attended separate schools from whites, were barred from pools and parks where whites swam and played, from cafes and hotels where whites ate and slept. On sidewalks, they were expected to step aside for whites. It took a brave person to challenge this system, when those that did suffered a white storm of rancour. Affronting this hatred, with assistance from the Federal Government, were nine courageous school children, permitted into the 1957/8 school year at Little Rock Central High. The unofficial leader of this band of students was Ernest Green.
Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, segregation in the United States was commonly practiced in many of the Southern and Border States. This segregation while supposed to be separate but equal, was hardly that. Blacks in the South were discriminated against repeatedly while laws did nothing to protect their individual rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ridded the nation of this legal segregation and cleared a path towards equality and integration. The passage of this Act, while forever altering the relationship between blacks and whites, remains as one of history’s greatest political battles.
Before any steps could be taken for the equality of human kind, we had the tackle the idea of intergrationism. This time is often referred to as the Nadir of American Race Relations, which simply put means that racism was at its worst during the time period of the Civil Rights Movement. Pulling together for equality proved to be a grueling task for Americans. In order to move into the future, one must let go of the past, and many people were not eager to abandon the beliefs that had been engrained in them since birth. Racial discrimination was present nationwide but the outrageous violence of African Americans in southern states became know as Jim Crow Laws.
Diversity, we define this term today as one of our nation’s most dynamic characteristics in American history. The United States thrives through the means of diversity. However, diversity has not always been a positive component in America; in fact, it took many years for our nation to become accustomed to this broad variety of mixed cultures and social groups. One of the leading groups that were most commonly affected by this, were African American citizens, who were victimized because of their color and race. It wasn’t easy being an African American, back then they had to fight in order to achieve where they are today, from slavery and discrimination, there was a very slim chance of hope for freedom or even citizenship. This longing for hope began to shift around the 1950’s during the Civil Rights Movement, where discrimination still took place yet, it is the time when African Americans started to defend their rights and honor to become freemen like every other citizen of the United States. African Americans were beginning to gain recognition after the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, which declared all people born natural in the United States and included the slaves that were previously declared free. However, this didn’t prevent the people from disputing against the constitutional law, especially the people in the South who continued to retaliate against African Americans and the idea of integration in white schools. Integration in white schools played a major role in the battle for Civil Rights in the South, upon the coming of independence for all African American people in the United States after a series of tribulations and loss of hope.
Massive protests against racial segregation and discrimination broke out in the southern United States that came to national attention during the middle of the 1950’s. This movement started in centuries-long attempts by African slaves to resist slavery. After the Civil War American slaves were given basic civil rights. However, even though these rights were guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment they were not federally enforced. The struggle these African-Americans faced to have their rights ...