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• Southern states were against desegregation
• Individual states tried to ignore the Supreme Court’s decision of 1955
• Argued they had states rights to keep schools segregated
White school Black school
The crisis came to a head at Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957…
• The state of Arkansas decided it would desegregate its schools slowly
• 1st school in Arkansas to be desegregated was the Central High School
• The Governor of Arkansas Orville Faubus was against integration
How did Faubus stop black children attending the school?
He sent state soldiers to surround the school
- He said they were there to stop racist violence but the soldiers did not let Black children in the school.
• Faubus was ordered to remove the state soldiers by…
– Federal government
• Faubus removed the troops but knew desegregation would be stopped because …
– a large White mob was also surrounding the school
That night I couldn’t sleep. Next morning I was the first one to get up. As I walked to the school a large crowd moved closer to me, calling me names. My knees started to shake and I wondered if I would make it to school. The crowd moved closer and closer. Somebody started yelling. ‘Lynch her, lynch her.’ I tried to see a friendly face in the mob. I saw an old lady. She looked kind but then she spat on me. They started shouting. ‘No nigger b**** is going to get into our school. Get out of here.’
• Eventually the President of the USA, Dwight Eisenhower sent 1000 soldiers to Little Rock to make sure the children were safe
• Soldiers stayed in Little Rock for a year, even patrolling the school corridors to make sure children were safe
• Events in Little Rock, Arkansas, attracted world wide attention to the Civil Rights Movement
The importance of Little Rock
• The beginning of educational de-segregation
• Support from the NAACP; highlighting discrimination
• Presidential involvement – Arkansas National Guard taken under federal control
• Media involvement – journalists/ cameras – worldwide attention
• Civil Rights Act of 1957 is introduced