Little Rock Nine

While racism remains an issue in America to this day, it’s important to note and comprehend that forward progress, particularly in the Jim Crow South of the 1950s, was the result of individuals who stood up for their constitutional rights, pushing through divisive barriers established by angry segregationists.

In September of 1957, nine black school children, the eldest only seventeen, stood up to angry backlash during a time of public school integration, seeking a better education for themselves, while pursuing the American dream previously set aside only for whites in the segregated South.

Who Were the Little Rock Nine?

They were Thelma Mothershed, Minnijean Brown, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls, Gloria Ray, Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford and Melba Pattillo, known collectively as The Little Rock Nine.

The 1954 Supreme Court ruling on Brown vs. Board of Education found segregation of schools unconstitutional, but as The Little Rock Nine approached their newly-integrated high school in Little Rock, segregationists stormed the campus in protest.

As the violence escalated, Elizabeth Eckford was heckled by an angry mob, who yelled “lynch her, lynch her!” as she walked calmly toward the entrance to the school.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower soon intervened, setting a precedent for the nation as a whole. On September 25th, 1957, the 101st Airborne Division and 10,000 National Guard troops escorted The Little Rock Nine as they walked bravely past screaming mobs of segregationist haters, boldly making their way into the classrooms of Little Rock Central High School.

These nine heroes were willing to step forward in the name of racial equality, not to mention a head down chipping away at the oppressions pandemic in the Jim Crow South.