Little Rock Central High School Research Paper

Many segregationists had told the school board that they were going to protest at Little Rock Central High School, and not allow the black students to enter the high school. Governor Orval Faubus supported the protestors and ordered the Arkansas National Guard to block off the children. On September 4, 1957, the soldiers stood in front of Little Rock Central High School, and blockaded the entire entrance. This made national headlines, and ultimately shocked the entire nation to its feet. With a furious crowd surrounding the nine students, Elizabeth Eckford said: They moved closer and closer. ... Somebody started yelling. ... I tried to see a friendly face somewhere in the crowd—someone who maybe could help. I looked into the face of an

On September 24, the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army was sent by President Eisenhower to Little Rock, Arkansas; where they handled the Arkansas National Guard, and took the authority from Governor Faubus. The nine students were taken safely into the school in the hands of the 101st Airborne Division. Although they were admitted into the school safely, they still endured tons of physical and verbal abuse, which tends to do more damage for a child. White students within the school were getting involved with abuse just as much the white folks out in the city. Melba Pattillo wrote a book called “Warrior’s Don’t Cry”, and it discussed about all the different physical and verbal abuse they would come in contact with while enrolled at Little Rock Central High School. For example, she was trapped in a bathroom stall where other white girls began to throw flaming pieces of paper on her. Minnijean Brown was suspended for six days, because while being verbally abused by these men in the cafeteria, she dropped a bowl of chili onto one of them. As the year continued, Minnijean Brown was finding herself getting into tougher confrontations; she decided to transfer to New Lincoln High School in New York City. As mentioned in Melba Pattillo book, the white students seem to only get in trouble if it was both a horrific cat and seen by one of the faculty