The Little Rock Nine: Freedom And Justice

“There have been 220 shootings on school campuses in the U.S. since 20 children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Conn. on Dec. 14, according to Everytown For Gun Safety, an advocacy group.” (Krishnakumar, Priya , and Len Degroot) Many people do not feel safe attending or sending their child to a public school where they are possibly subject to a shooting. School shootings were first initially brought to the attention of the public in 1999, Columbine was one of the first school massacres that was recognized nationwide. Because of the magnitude of the shooting there is an abundance of information online bearing information of the event. First off, the shooters had identified specific targets, athletes, minorities and Christians. The two shooters had planned the firing for over a year and thought out their whole strategy. (“Columbine High School shootings.”) There was no plan in place to react to this shooting, because nothing like it had ever happened before. Although if there was, we may not hear about Columbine to the degree we do today. Columbine still is the most well known shooting and the horrific impact is still notable today across the United States. In the eighteen years since Columbine in 1999 there have been hundreds of school shootings, ranging from grade schools to college universities. Obviously, school shootings are a big problem in the United States and hopefully in time with the proper precautions taken they will eventually be eliminated forever.

In order to understand the underlying problems, I have researched the issue of k-12 students protesting gun violence. Throughout my research, I have learned about gun laws and statistics regarding gun violence. It is clear to me that students protesting gun violence is a problem because they want to ban assault rifles, many students are uneducated about guns, and the media instilling an irrational fear in students is not the solution to deterring gun

Craig Scott once said, regarding the two boys that took his sister’s life, “I think the biggest challenge for me after the shooting was the anger that I was dealing with toward the two shooters.” In Craig’s interview he talked about the foundation he started in honor of his sister, Rachel Scott. For a long time Craig felt hatred for the boys, but a revelation came to him and he created Rachel’s Challenge, an organization to promote a positive culture change and relationship growth across the nation’s school systems. Students who feel troubled and misunderstood are helped by the foundation to feel acceptance and equality amongst their peers. The number one way schools can find out about students carrying weapons is not from a piece of equipment but from the individual who comes forward and reports it to an adult that he or she trusts (Strutter). Schools turned their focus to students themselves and creating a healthy and educational environment. By doing so, the threat of a weapon being brought in school has

James: The Little Rock Nine inspired me to enrol and continue the fight towards a desegregated society. I want the world to accept people regardless of their skin colour and allow their voices to be heard.

Tuesday April 20th, 1999 began like any other day. Parents went to work, and the children went off to school. Neither worried about the other, or how their day would turn out. But, hours later everything changed (“Columbine Highschool Massacre.”). Little did the residents of Columbine, Colorado know their high school would be a statistic for one of the largest school massacres in US History. On this day, two teenage boys were responsible for killing 12 innocent students and a teacher, wounding 23 more students, and then killing themselves (Miller). While a horrific event, the Columbine tragedy improved the safety in schools by upgrading security systems, improving administration’s knowledge on school security, and increasing

Throughout our nation’s history, there are many instances where a certain group or individual expressed their courageousness by voicing their opinions to make our world a better place. Their willingness and determination to change society for the better good of the people showcase their tremendous courageous qualities that are not present in everyone. A powerful example of courageous acts that greatly impacted our nation are the Little Rock Nine students from Little Rock, Arkansas. As you probably know in the mid-1900s, almost all public schools were segregated, meaning there was a separate school for white kids and a separate school for black kids. In Ben Cosgrove’s Time Magazine article titled “Brave Hearts: Remembering the Little Rock Nine”, he talks about the nine brave African-American teenagers who risked their lives in order to attend Little Rock Central High School, an all-white public school. Because segregation in the southern schools was so prominent, many citizens of the south were outraged

The Little Rock Nine volunteer to enter the segregated high school they had a choice, the choice of entering the high school. The Little Rock Nine volunteer to enter the segregated high school they knew risks if they agree to enter high school. The Little Rock Nine was chosen because of their excellence grades and perfect attendance, the NAACP thought they would be great for integrating into segregated high school but they had faced tons of issues. One of the many problems was that the Little Rock Nine were stopped by angry riots and officers that were ordered by the governor of Arkansas, president Eisenhower had to send the National Guard to escort the Little Rock Nine into the high school. The Little Rock Nine had faced tremendous amounts of discrimination in the high school, they had to endure being called racial slurs and possibly being physically harm. What the Little Rock Nine did change our society we wouldn’t have different races in our schools or have a teacher that is a different race. There is still discrimination and forms of exclusion in schools that still exist. Discrimination and forms of exclusion in schools still exist in today’s modern society and it is affecting our

The Little Rock Nine were nine African Americans who went to the all white Central High school in Little Rock, Arkansas. The school opened in 1927 and was originally called Little Rock Senior High School. The African Americans enrolled in September in 1957. The Little Rock Nine were Ernest Green, born in 1941, Elizabeth Eckford, born in 1941, Jefferson Thomas, born and died 1942- 2010, Terrence Roberts, born 1941, Gloria Ray Karlmark, born 1942, Melba Pattillo Beals, born 1941, Thelma Mothershed, born 1940, Carlotta Walls, born 1942, and Minnijean Brown, born 1941.

They showed that to get to where they needed to be and make a change, they would have to keeping pushing to make progress. Each student individually helped to take a stand. One example of this was Minnijean Brown standing up for herself while at school. “Minnie had taken this chili and dumped it on this dude’s head. There was absolute silence in the place, and then the help, all black, broke into applause. And the white kids, the other white kids there didn’t know what to do. It was the first time that anybody, I’m sure, had seen somebody black retaliate in that sense” (Facing History and Ourselves). These students that made up the Little Rock Nine set strong examples to the rest of the black community. They helped stand up for their community and strengthen their rights as human beings. To speak out against oppression and injustice. And to fight for what they believe is right, no matter the color of their

In particular, the shooting has brought attention to school safety throughout the country and beyond, has contributed to children’s fears, and possibly inspired future generations of shooters.

School violence, is an issue that is hard to deal with. There are things that may be done to decrease it but it does not seem like it will ever go away. Parents send their children to school to learn, to have fun, to pass notes, and to meet new people, not to be shot at and never have the chance to come home ever again. They should not have to think or be afraid of sending their child to school and never seeing them. Last year one of the worst school shootings took place at Columbine High School. Not only did it effect the famlies of the victims and of the killers, pretty much the whole nation was involved and many people were brought in to figure out what had happened, and why it happened. This incident brought our nation together, and

The West Memphis Three terminology was birthed when three troubled, teenage boys were accused of brutally torturing and murdering three young, innocent boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, in May of 1993. Authorities had mounting pressure to find the culprits responsible for the unspeakable crime. In a very short time, the three teens were accused, arrested and then charged with the brutal crime. It was not Salem, Massachusetts, but a witch-hunt was going on in West Memphis. It was almost three hundred years later, but three teenagers had to feel like they were being treated like witches that had to be put away.

This terrible event brought into question the safety and security of public schools. Crigger recalls, “I really considered homeschooling after that,” Crigger, along with numerous other fearful parents, wanted schools to be more secure and safe for their children. Schools are a place for learning, nurturing, and shaping young minds. But after the shooting, schools were a place of terror

For my final project I want to focus on the civil rights movement, Little Rock Nine to be exact. This event took place during 1957. I plan on writing in the form of diary entries based on the event that took place. I will be writing from Minnijean Brown-Trickey’s perspective who was one of the nine teenargers. Little Rock Nine was a group of African-American teenagers who were selected to attend a non-black school, which turned out to be a terrifying experience for the nine teens. I plan on writing about how life was like for Brown-Trickey and telling the readers her story and how the event still affects her today.

We live in a country that is often faced with violent and devastating events that forever stay cemented into our minds. Most stories on the news inform us about the most recent robberies, assaults, frauds, etc. However, one of the most shocking and disastrous types of stories the news updates us are those about shootings. One of the most infamous shootings happened almost 50 years ago in a small town in Ohio where U.S troops attacked protesters on the grounds of Kent State University, killing four students and leaving nine others wounded .