Argumentative Essay: The Little Rock Nine

The Brown vs. Board of Education was a turning point for American history, because it began the road to integration starting with the Linda Brown and Ruby Bridges with the assistance from the Little Rock Nine. The supreme court case strived to put an end to segregation in public schools. The Supreme Court consolidated the Brown vs. Board of Education as one case, given that it was five separate cases. The case was handled by Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Having two separate court decisions, the unanimous court case ended segregation in public schools and overturned the Jim Crow Laws.

In 1954, the Supreme Court took a step in history with the Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka by stating that, “In the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’, has no place. Separate facilities are inheritably unequal.” Little Rock, Arkansas a city in the upper south became a location of a controversial attempt to put the court order into effect when nine African American students were chosen to desegregate Central High in Little Rock. How did the Little Rock Nine affect America? Sanford Wexler stated in The Civil Rights Movement: An Eyewitness History,” its “effect would ripple across the nation and influence the growing Civil Rights Movement;” in addition, the Little Rock crisis forced the federal government

The multiple forces in favor of integration were determined to gain access to Central High School and integrate public schools in the south. Before any integration was possible in the United States, the NAACP, or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was forced to file a lawsuit in the Federal District Court to integrate public schools immediately due to the public and state backlash towards integration (Beals 20). Judge Ronald Davies declared that Governor Faubus had “thwarted the court-approved plan of integration” furthering the movement to integrate Central High (Beals 68). After the lawsuit was settled, the Little Rock Nine was scheduled to integrate into Central High School. However, even after these

On September 25, 1957 nine courageous children risked their lives to attend Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Due to resistance by the state government and public hostility, federal troops were necessary to let nine African American children attend the school. Although the Supreme Courts Landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education cut down racial segregation in public schools, it was the actions of these nine young kids of school integration that tested the strength of that decision.

(Lucas 31). Most white students didn’t pay attention to them, but others bullied them. (Lucas 32). Minnijean Brown one day lost her temper, and got expelled. On Sept. 1958 the supreme court ruled that all Little Rock public schools would be shut down that year. The Little Rock Nine received International Acclaim for their courage.Ernest Green was the first black student to graduate from Central high. Even though they broke a racial wall; the little rock nine didn’t bring immediate gains for civil rights. (Benson 2).

The Brown vs. Board of Education Doctrine states, “ We conclude in the field of Education the doctrine of “separate but equal” has no place separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. THIS REQUIRED THE DESEGREGATION OF SCHOOLS ACROSS AMERICA.

In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States was confronted with the controversial Brown v. Board of Education case that challenged segregation in public education. Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark Supreme Court case because it called into question the morality and legality of racial segregation in public schools, a long-standing tradition in the Jim Crow South, and threatened to have monumental and everlasting implications for blacks and whites in America. The Brown v. Board of Education case is often noted for initiating racial integration and launching the civil rights movement. In 1951, Oliver L. Brown, his wife Darlene, and eleven other African American parents filed a class-action lawsuit against the Board of Education

In response to the Brown decisions and pressure from the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Little Rock, Arkansas, school board adopted a plan for gradual integration of its schools.The first institutions to integrate would be the high schools, beginning in September 1957. Among these was Little Rock Central High School, which opened in 1927 and was originally called Little

President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne division troops under the federal command to protect the Little Rock Nine because Governor Faubus was against the idea of allowing nine African American children to enter an all-white school. The Brown v. Board of Education decision helped public schools to be desegregated including Central High School. After Brown v. Board of Education, the racism and discrimination African Americans encountered in education was on display through the need for Eisenhower to call in the National Guard, the exchange between angry whites and Elizabeth Eckford, and the use of the federal government to enforce the court decision.

In the case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court declared school segregation "inherently unequal" and therefore unconstitutional. Despite the Court’s decision, there weren’t any immediate changes to the school system across the nation. There were also many oppositions. Three months after Brown vs. Board passed, an African American psychologist, Kenneth Clark charged the New York Public school of persisting with segregation and creating an inferior environment as well as unequal education. As a result, New York City establish the Commission on Integration to find ways to integrate the city’s public schools. In 1958, the Harlem Nine parent’s boycotted to keep their children out of Harlem’s junior-high school since they were

With the demanding African Americans wanting equal rights, enforcing desegregation in schools would clearly need presidential intervention. Dwight D. Eisenhower was president at this time and he did not agree with the Supreme Court’s decisions on the Brown v. Board of Education case. He did not want to force the states to integrate schools but had no choice because as president of the United State it was his job to so. Unwillingly, a school named Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas accepted their first set of African American students. They were called “the Little Rock Nine.” President Eisenhower eventually sent in the U.S. Army’s 101st airborne unit to escort the students to and from classes because the governor, Orval Faubus, called in Arkansas’ National Guard to prevent them from going to class. Despite being insulted, harassed, and assaulted the Little Rock Nine returned to school every day and of the end of the school year one of the nine students graduated from Central High School. The next school year, again Governor

Another win for African Americans was in 1954, with the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, where the Supreme Court called segregation unconstitutional and consequently banned it. This was only the ending of a 16 year struggle for the ruling out of segregation. The abolishment of segregation in public schools did not rely exclusively on this case, but as well as on other cases which contributed to this ban. The case of Brown v. Board of Education was said to have been divided into two cases known as Brown I and Brown II. The Brown I case, was the 1954 abolishment of segregation, in 1955 Brown II, “held local school districts responsible for implementing Brown I and ordered them to desegregate schools ‘with all deliberate speed,’” (Unger). In previous years before the Brown cases, the National Association for the Advancement of Color People (NAACP), were accountable for the pro anti-segregation cases against school boards in

The desegregation of public facilities began with the decision of Brown vs Board of Education in 1954, where the Supreme Court of the United States deemed segregation unlawful and unconstitutional. The country was told that desegregation was to take place "with all deliberate speed". This angered the white community. Violent retaliation was the means used to prevent the integration of blacks into various public facilities. In fact, the Autherine Lucy case demonstrated to the entire country that violent mobs could halt integration demanded by a federal court order. However, three years later, the Little Rock Crisis would affirm that if provoked by mobs, the executive

Throughout the late nineteen fifties and sixties, during the civil rights movement, segregation was still prevalent in public schools. It was still uncommon for schools to be integrated even after the passing of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Supreme Court case in 1954 that resulted in a vote to end racial segregation in public schools after the hearing in Brown v. Board of Education (PBS). In Little Rock, Arkansas, the fight to integrate their public schools was just beginning. The Little Rock Nine became major advocates of desegregating schools and enforcing the new law on desegregation during the civil rights movement.

America has had quite a history. Moreover, America has had a distinct history concerning racial differences. From the Civil War to the Civil Rights Act, America has showed past that is unforgettable. However, America has showed a history concerning African Americans that still show up in our present today. The Little Rock Nine, staged in 1957, proves that we are not that far away from our previous actions against a different race. In the American heritage and main structure of government, it says that all men are created equal. This paper will tell of the Little Rock Nine and their struggle, and how it has changed America for the better.