The Little Rock Nine

The Little Rock Nine (Little Rock Central High School is a school for white students only. In 1957, nine black students enrolled at the school, but policemen prevented them from entering the building because they feared that other students might react violently towards them. ) The scene is Central High School in Little Rock, a small town in Arkansas, in the southern United States. It is 2nd September 1957—the first day of a new school year. The school board has taken a historic decision— to allow black students to attend Central High, which until now has been for white students only. But the governor of the state of Arkansas decides to defy the law and continue to discriminate against black people by not allowing them to attend the same schools as whites. As students arrive after the long summer holiday, they find the school surrounded by policemen who stopped nine black students from entering the building. Officially, it is “to prevent violence”but it is obvious that this is not the true reason. It is the start of one of the most dramatic periods in the history of the American Civil Rights Movement, and for days to follow the small southern town will be the focus of the world's attention … The story of the Little Rock Nine is the story of the long struggle for justice for black Americans. In 1776, when the United States became an independent country, the Declaration of Independence stated that "all men are created equal" .But this did not seem to be applicable Afro-Americans —the millions of black people who had been brought by Europeans to the New World to work as slaves, especially in the southern States of the Union. Only much later, in 1863, did president Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation that all slaves were free. However, discrimination against black people continued. Nearly 100 years after emancipation, in public places such as buses, schools, libraries, swimming pools and cinemas, black and white people were still separated, with the whites getting the best of everything. Black people were treated as second-class citizens. But the Second World War, in which the United States went to war in Europe, and in which many black Americans lost their lives, changed people's sensitivities and focused attention on justice at home. In 1954, in a historic ruling, the US Supreme Court declared that segregation in schools were illegal. At the same time, the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther king put pressure on institutions through non-violent protest wherever they found injustice. This is the background to the Little Rock Nine—the nine black courageous students who dared to enrol at Central High. After preventing them from entering the school, the governor of Arkansas was called to a meeting in Washington and given precise instructions to use the police to protect the nine black students and ensure that they could get into the building. But when the governor returned to Little Rock, he told the police to go home. Hours later an angry white mob turned up at the school, smashing Windows and breaking down doors. Washington decided to send in troops to protect the students. On 25th September, the nine black students entered school, protected by 1,000 soldiers of the United States Army. It was the beginning of a long hard road to integration. Forty years later, in 1997, a moving anniversary celebration was held at the school. All nine students attended. Most of them had gone on to study at university and had had interesting careers. Only one was still living in the Little Rock. All nine said that the real heroes in the story were their parents, who supported them, encouraged them, and never lost faith that what they were doing was right.