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Descriptive Essay: The Little Rock Nine

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Central High School is one of the first schools in American history to integrate black and white students. Nine students, known as “The Little Rock Nine,” are chosen to be the first black students to enter that high school. Elizabeth Eckford is one of the nine students who entered Central High School all alone on September 4th 1957. This day was a nightmare for Elizabeth. After being denied entry by the Arkansas National Guard and being harassed by a shouting crowd who are opposed to integration, Elizabeth managed to stay calm. Hazel Bryan was one of the tormentors in the crowd in front of Central High School. Many cameras were clicking that day trying to capture history being made, but one photo that was widely published would unintentionally …show more content…

Although she is wearing glasses, her brows are slightly furrowed in a sorrowful way. With her lips curved downwards, Elizabeth appears emotional but composed. Behind Elizabeth, Hazel is the only one from the crowd angled towards Elizabeth. Her eyebrows are furrowed angrily and her eyes look cold and filled with animosity. Hazel is captured shouting with words of hate spewing from her mouth. Both girls are the same ages in the picture yet have to carry themselves differently. As described by Keith Beauchamp, Jim Crow laws were in action and images of Emmett Till were still fresh in black peoples mind. Blacks had to be cautious in the way they acted in public for their own safety meanwhile whites could get away with almost anything, such as the brutal murder of Emmett Till (Beauchamp 88). Elizabeth is peacefully walking, knowing that as a black girl, any wrong move can harm her. Hazel can act in an absurd manner and not be condemned for it because she is …show more content…

In the book Elizabeth and hazel: Two Women of Little Rock by David Margolick, it’s stated that Hazel remembers shouting hateful words just for fun. Margolick mentions that Counts took several photos that day, but in the photo that became famous, Hazel was caught saying “ Go home nigger! Go back to Africa!” (37). That is just some of the few hateful comments that Elizabeth heard that day. It is as though the people around her do not care that she is bashing Elizabeth. The crowd seems to approve Hazel’s hateful acts towards Elizabeth. When people see injustice, they are likely to help out others and defend them. However, since Elizabeth is black, very few cared to stand up against the injustice surrounding her during her walk into school. Rarely would whites speak up for a black people. Grace Lorch, a white American stood up for Elizabeth, but is abused by many other whites afterwards (55). In that moment it did not matter if the girls are young teenagers or if they are American, all that mattered was skin

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