African American Integrated Schools

912 Words4 Pages

Have you ever thought about how we got integrated schools? There were many things that led up to what we now see as normal today. Something like education for African Americans can seem so simple today, but seem so complicated for people in past years. One of the things that helped us with integrated schools was a few people who were called the Little Rock Nine.
Central High was one of the first schools to be integrated. It was one of the schools used to test the Brown v. Board of Education (Theatlantic.com). In the year of 1957 nine African Americans enrolled into Central High School. They were the first African Americans to ever enroll in that school. In the days before their first day of school they participated in ¨intense counselling …show more content…

Board of Education case was what started the whole Little Rock Nine events. Many states across the nation had laws on segregation. There was segregated schools, bathrooms, stores, and even restaurants. This case was all about the topic of segregation. The Brown v. Board of Education cases ruling was that segregation was unconstitutional. Mostly white people did not agree with this ruling. There were riots, debates, mobs, and even attacks on African Americans. Even though a lot of people did not like this decision, there were many who did. Many African Americans were happy with this ruling because then they wouldn't have to go to a certain school, bathroom, or anything like that. They would be able to have a lot more freedom to go places than they had before (History.com). A year after the court decision about segregation, schools around the nation were to to desegregate their schools …show more content…

Orval Faubus had the National Guard sent out to stop the Little Rock Nine from entering the school. He claimed that by doing this he was trying to protect the students. He also said that if the student were allowed to attend then ¨violence and bloodshed might break out¨. President Eisenhower was with the thought of integration. He sent out federal troops to escort the students into school (Blackpast.org, Theatlantic.com, and History.com). After this event the United States army remained at the school for the rest of the school years to make sure that the students were safe (Blackpast.org). A year after Central High was integrated, Orval had the schools closed down. He closed them to take a public vote on whether the school should be integrated or not. The results were 19,470 to 7,561 against integration and the school remained closed for a while. Central High reopened in August, 1959. During this whole situation, Richard Davies ,who is a federal judge, got word of this situation (History.com). He decided to press legal charges against Oravl. Orval spent many years fighting against integration

Open Document