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A Mighty Long Way

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Sixty-one years ago, there were nine African American students starting their first day of school in Little Rock Central High School. No African American student had ever gone to Central before them. This was all made possible by Brown v. Board of Education and the Blossom Plan several years later. The news had gotten around quickly about the integration of Central. The segregationists had madly protested in a flurry of anger. They started going to violent means to prevent the integration. The news stations all over the world had caught the events and shared their stories across the globe. The press played a big part in illuminating the events of the civil rights movement, however they presented biased or inaccurate information that caused …show more content…

In A Mighty Long Way the news of the violence had been in local magazines and newspapers. News reporters form the New York Times and Life Magazine and many other news stations were also there to get coverage on the integration in Little Rock. In A Mighty Long Way, Carlotta said, “Benjamin Fine, the New York Times reporter who had catapulted our story to the front page of his newspaper weeks earlier, gave this account…” (LaNier 86). Millions of people who read the New York Times had seen the huge angry mobs protesting the integration. They had also touched on the subject of Elizabeth Eckford. When their report came out they said, “The Negro girl… sat on a bench. She seemed in a state of shock. A white woman, Mrs. Grace Lorch walked over to comfort her.” (LaNier 72) When this report came out, it showed that people were being affected by the white peoples’ rude and angry comments and actions. Furthermore, the press had also publicized the death of Emmett Till. The people were horrified when they saw the disfigured face of his face in the newspaper. The news had spread and put light to the fact that the blacks were being mistreated. A vast majority of the people got their information about the events of the civil right movement throughout the …show more content…

The Gazette had published a story about the first months of the integration at Central. They said the integration was “not entirely calm, by any means, but not in turmoil either” (LaNier 108). Carlotta had responded to that by saying “Perhaps that was the view from the outside peeking in, but from the center of the drama, it sure felt like turmoil to me.” (LaNier 108). The radio had also been telling the news of the mobs at Central. The facts were there, but some of them got twisted or added on other facts. Carlotta had said “Relatives had been calling all day and their message was unified: Get Carlotta out of that school!” (LaNier 90). They had probably said that because there was news that students were getting beaten, when actually it was the reporters that were getting beaten. Finally, some newspapers had painted an image that the black community was not safe. They had said “...A city out of control with random mobs roaming the streets, terrorizing any black residents they could find.” (LaNier 91). This might have created some turmoil throughout the black community, because the newspapers had lead some people to believe that they were in danger in their black communities. There is a difference between being accurate and being factual. The newspapers were telling facts, but it may not have been accurate or the whole

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