Little Rock Nine

How would you respond if the weight of a country were cast on your shoulders? If history were thrust upon you?

When it arrives, how will you respond to your moment of greatness?

Yesterday I took my print reporting class to downtown Little Rock to Central High, site of the infamous desegregation crisis in 1957. That year, nine African American students sought entrance into the all-white school. Yesterday the city, state, nation and world celebrated their brave march over the lines of hatred, fear and ignorance.

I first heard of the Little Rock Nine in an Arkansas History class I took when I was a student. I knew the state had a troubled past regarding race relations (the Elaine race riots come to mind), but I had no clue as to the depths of what amounted to state-sponsored racism.

This past week has taken me on sort of a roller coaster ride through U.S. racial segregation history. Last Thursday and Friday I took the yearbook group up to Topeka, Kansas to visit the plant where the book is printed. In 1951, a group of 13 parents sued the Topeka Board of Education. After losing its initial case in District Court (based on the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, which allowed facilities to be separate but equal), the Brown case was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954, by which time four similar cases had been rolled into the same case under Brown v. Board of Education. The Warren Court unanimously overturned the lower court's ruling (and effectively Plessy v. Ferguson) and in 1955 demanded that the court's decision be complied with post haste. There is a national historic site in Topeka commemorating the ruling.

Tuesday, back in Arkansas, I visited the historic site commemorating the most widely recognized public response to that 1954 decision. Despite the ruling, the fearmongers weren't going to give up without a fight (from the National Park Service):
• The LR school board presented a plan for gradual desegregation in 1955. The "Blossom Plan" dictated that high schools would be the first to integrate in September 1957.
• Mother's League of Central High School sought and was granted an injunction against integration at Central in August of 1957. Officials feared integration would lead to violence. The injunction was voided by a federal judge.
• Gov. Orval Faubus called on the state's National Guard to bar African American students from Central. The action was overruled, so Faubus sent in the LR police.
• More than 1,000 angry whites mob in front of the school threatening riot on Sept. 23. The Nine are ushered out of school for their safety. This was the scene of this infamous shot.
• After calling the mob scene outside Central "disgraceful," Pres. Eisenhower dispatches 1,200 members of the 101st Airborne to the school to ensure the safety of the Nine, and the students attend their first day of classes Sept. 25.
• One of the Nine, Earnest Green, graduates in May.
• Faubus, and various segregationist groups, succeed in closing Little Rock schools for an entire year. However, the times were already changing.

"They were coming here to learn," Gov. Mike Beebe said at yesterday's commemoration. "But what they actually did is teach."

It is sometimes hard for me to feel inspired. I often feel discouraged when I think of things I'd do differently in this world, because I feel like I will never have the voice or opportunity to do them. Yesterday's commemoration was a wake-up call from this way of thinking.

The Little Rock Nine are an inspiring group of individuals. Yesterday marked the first time the group has made public comments at the same event. They were riveting. They didn't use their time to spew invective against the city, state or people who treated them as less than human. They didn't bask in the righteousness of their cause 50 years ago. Instead, they were grateful. Grateful to those who supported them and those who came after them. They clearly sought not to dwell on the past, but to look ahead to the work that remains ahead of all of us. Their attitudes reflected a people set apart, not below a single soul, but probably above most. The crowd of around 4,000 was hushed, waiting on their every word. A smattering:

Melba Patillo Beals:
"I see hope. I see the elixir in your faces. ... We're going to make it. We have no choice."

Elizabeth Eckford:
"We can never have true reconciliation until we've truly acknowledged our painful and shared past."

Earnest Green:
"We were nine teenagers. We thought this was the place that would accept us. ...50 years later, I think we were right."

Gloria Ray Karlmark:
"By being here [earning an education] they are realizing something that is truly American."

Carlotta Walls Lanier:
"There are a lot of barriers out there, but you can overcome them if you know that you are doing the right thing. We knew we were doing the right thing."

Terrence Roberts:
"Look in the mirror and ask, 'What am I doing in support of the status quo.' Second, ask what you are willing to do to change that."

Minnijean Brown Trickey:
"Justice is a perpetual struggle...we must take that responsibility seriously."

I and my students will not soon forget the living lessons and legends we heard from yesterday. It is one thing to read of courage, it's another thing entirely to truly feel it's lasting effects. The spirit of good that drove these nine is present in all of us. The ability and compassion is stamped in us in that we were made in the image of God.

It's the choice that's left to us.