Little Rock Nine Thesis

The Little Rock Nine, a group of nine young African American students, took a dynamic stand for people of color, specifically in the South, in 1957. During the time of the Segregation Era, schools were divided by the color of a person’s skin. Schools in which there were only all white or all black people attending them during the time. A group of nine African American students called The Little Rock Nine would be the first blacks to attend Central High School, Arkansas thus making great change in the history of today. The Little Rock Nine took a stand against a segregated society, created friction within the education system, and challenged racist people, resulting in a change in society and life for people of color today.

Before the integration

The crowd outside of the schools chanted “Two, four, six, eight… We ain’t gonna integrate!”(Little Rock Nine - Encyclopedia of Arkansas). Those people were against sharing the facility with African Americans and refused to have them there. The teens had to experience a huge crowd of people yelling against when they were trying to integrate. The Little Rock Nine had to deal with the conflicts and acts upon them with correct behavior on their side. Ernest Green says, “Part of it was attitude at that time, which was somehow we were suppose to be so stoic that we weren’t to retaliate to any of this” (1957,Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement). The teens were suppose to be nonviolent and to not retaliate to any of the attacks so there would be less problems and trouble. A civil rights movement leader named Martin Luther King had addressed The Little Rock Nine and gave advice about what they were going through at the time. He says in a newspaper article, “Urge the people of Little Rock to adhere rigorously a way of nonviolence at this time...But non-violence is the only lasting solution of the problem”(“Dr. King Asks Non-Violence In Little Rock School Crisis”). He had suggested the Little Rock Nine to focus on non-violence instead of violently retaliating because that is the only solution to the conflict that will prolong the process of integration and to not slow it down.

In the document, Schools: Integration, the process of integration was as years progressed, The Little Rock Nine’s actions had created an ongoing change of the environment becoming more acceptable in the daily life of others (Schools: Integration). “On Sept, 25, 1957, the brave determination of nine black children to walk through a hate-filled mob to integrate Central changed the course of history (Clinton, Bill).” The students actions and behaviors toward and during the process had changed history for many people in the U.S. today. The young teen’s actions and their part of taking a stand had changed the environment around them so much that during the Segregation Era, African Americans and white people sharing the same facilities and schools were adapting to the situation being normal and part of the daily life. That something that was once unusual became normal and more occurring. The Little Rock Nine had also broadened the academic future for people of color today. Their actions had caused more doors to open for working African Americans in which the education they receive allows them to have a wide variety of career choices. In the article,”Black Progress: How far we’ve come, and how far we have to go” the data states that “For instance, today more than 30 percent of black men and nearly 60 percent of black women hold white-collar