Page 95 - Historical Fiction.pdf

Although, there was still people who wanted integration and
better education for African Americans, there were more
people who wanted
segregation, including,
George C. Wallace. George
C. Wallace was the governor
of Alabama at that time. He
strongly agreed with
segregation and wanted
?Segregation now,
segregation tomorrow, Elizabeth Eckford calmly walks
segregation forever!? into school while other students
shout insults at her.
(Alabama Department of
Archives and History). This, of course, was very popular with
the people, but only for a while.
Many yelled at the African American students who were
walking in. Ernest Green was one of the nine students chosen
to integrate Central High School. He says he was brave but
soon realized the challenges, ?Green described the
experience as ?like going to war every day.? Threatening
phone calls came to their homes nightly. Students threw acid
on them at school.?(Segregation Lingers in U.S. Schools 60
Years After Little Rock) These were events that happened.
"A roar of hat red, and just t hinking
about it makes me shake.? --Minnijean
Brown-Trickey (Former member of t he
Lit t le Rock Nine)
White students wouldn?t just put gum in their hair or put a
thumbtack in their chair. White students would yell at them,
and make sure they had the worst experience of their life;
just because of the differences in skin color.
Many people despised segregation, sometimes even white
people. According to an article called Little Rock Nine: the day
young students shattered racial segregation by David Smith,
?Brown v Board of Education, the landmark 1954 supreme
court ruling that segregated schools were unconstitutional,
should have meant she and fellow pupils could take their
places at Central High.? There was a court case that opposed
segregation. The Supreme Court did find segregation
unconstitutional This meant that all segregation should have
been abolished, including in schools. However, when the
Little Rock Nine came, the governor didn?t allow the students
to integrate. This action received a lot of backlash as the
governor then called for the National Guard to come to the
Central High School as prevent integration. Although the
National Guardsmen were originally there to prevent
integration, President Dwight Eisenhower ordered for the
National Guardsmen to then protect the studentsinstead.
Diverse Schools
The school system now is very
different from what it was in the 1950
and 1960. In little rock Arkansas, the
Central High School, present day.
schools are integrated and, ironically,
there are more blacks than whites in
the schools. According to an article called Central High School
that based data from the 2016-17 school year, Central high
schools population is approximately 59% Black, 29% White,
and 12% other races including Hispanic, American
Indian/Alaskan Native, and Asian. This shows that the school
now has more blacks than whites opposed to only nine
students out of the entire school as it was in 1957. This would
make sense if most of the Black population is concentrated in
the South. These roots tie back to slavery and the Civil War.
Jodi Morris is the daughter of one of the National
Guardsmen sent to prevent integration to then protecting the
students. She researches integration and segregation and
explains, "The school is, to me, very integrated today and not
just racially -- [but] ethnically, linguistically," Morris told a
group of people from England, India, Illinois, Connecticut and
elsewhere.?(Little Rock's Central High reflects on 60 years, but
racial chasm persists in district by Eric Besson) Central High?s
population was successfully integrated and has stayed that
way since 1957. The article goes on to describe that Central
High School is the second most racially diverse school in
Arkansas. The first being Northside High School.
How Segregation Lingers
The school system has also not changed that much. Races
are now integrated, but now they are pushing segregation to
where you come from. They could be sending the lower
income kids to other school and the high income to the other
schools. According to ?Little Rock's Central High
reflects on 60 years, but racial chasm persists in
district? by Eric Besson, Kids who have lower income
will often go to the same school with kids who are
experiencing the same issue. These school are found
to have lower test scores and are not at a college
level or be prepared for that. Segregation still
happens today, maybe just not racially. These kids
won?t be prepared for college and most of them are below or
at average for math, science, and reading. This could be a
major problem when getting jobs or applying for college.
Will it Last
The school system in Little Rock, Arkansas has changed. It
went from only having nine black students to having over half
the school population being black. Segregation in schools
because of race or ethnicity is abolished and African
American and White kids play, work, and go to school
together with no judgment. The little Rock Nine helped open
our eyes to what integration could be. The school system
went from segregated to integrated and helped our country
grow and develop, but will it last?