Mid-20th Century
By the mid-20th century, African-Americans and whites were still kept
apart from one another through segregation. Although some stores and
railroad companies had removed their "colored" and "white"
classifications, many were still questioning why segregation was being
allowed to occur in Arkansas. In 1952, the Little Rock Council on
Education commented, "the only practical, realistic, and ethical
question is integration." In 1954, the landmark case,
Brown v. the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas,
ruled segregation illegal and that all school districts should
integrate "with all deliberate speed." In the U.S. Congress, Southern
members; including all of Arkansas's members, signed a "Southern
Manifesto" against desegregation. However, many school districts in
Arkansas with small African-American populations begin integrating their
schools immediately. State colleges also begin to admit
African-American students.
In Little Rock, the Blossom Plan was implemented to integrate the
city's schools beginning at the secondary level. In 1957, Central High
School was scheduled to enroll several African-American students.
Protest by some members of the white community grew. In an anticipation
of violence, Gov. Orval Faubus, who supported segregation, called in
the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the nine African-American
students from entering the school. On Sep 4, 1957, students and angry
crowds surrounded the school and shouted angry epitaphs at the
African-American students. Elizabeth Eckford, the only student to walk
alone, remembered that, "It was the longest block I ever walked in my
whole life…I tried to see a friendly face somewhere in the mob - someone
who maybe would help. I looked into the face of an old woman and it
seemed a kind face, but when I looked at her again, she spat on me" The
national media had arrived and the whole world was witnessing what was
happening in Little Rock. After being refused admittance,
President Dwight Eisenhower tried to negotiate with Faubus. This
meeting did not produce any results and a federal court ordered Faubus
to withdraw the National Guard. On September 23, the nine students
attempted to enter the school again. An angry mob appeared and the
safety of the students could not be guaranteed. President Eisenhower
intervened and placed the Arkansas National Guard under the command of
the U.S. Army. He also brought the U.S. Army's 101st Division to Little
Rock and allowed the nine students to enter the school. Central High
School was now integrated, but not without a cost. For the first year,
the nine students were provoked or threatened with physical abuse. From
1958 to 1959, the high schools in Little Rock were closed by Faubus
until the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools urged a
special election in 1959 to remove segregationists from the Little Rock
School Board. Schools opened again in 1959 but complete integration did
not occur until court-ordered busing in the 1970s.
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