"There are those in our country who would rather see America destroyed than see the Negro enjoy the rights guaranteed under the constitution of the Unites States."
-Daisy Bates
-Daisy Bates
Before the Nine's violent battle for integration, Little Rock was known for being calm, quiet, and progressive. The events in September forever changed that.
"We can kick the crap out of this nigger....They ain't nothing but animals."
- White student at Central High
- White student at Central High
"I just can't take everything they throw at me without fighting back. I don't think people realize what goes on at Central. You just wouldn't believe it. They throw rocks, they spill ink on your clothes, they call you 'nigger,' they just keep bothering you every five minutes. The white students hate me. Why do they hate me so much?"
-Minnijean Brown, one of the Nine |
Source: Wisconsin Historical Society Archives, 1957 or 1958
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"On September 25, the children again assembled at my home - this time to be escorted to the school under the protection of Federal Troops. One of these children remarked: "They look so safe in their uniforms. For the first time in my life, I feel like an American citizen!"
-Daisy Bates
-Daisy Bates
Editorials From White Students at Central: Integration in Process
Although many people objected to school integration, many supported it. Supporters were taunted as "Nigger lover(s)." Though the segregationists were more vocal, many students actively supported the Nine's right to attend Central.
"The challenge is yours, as future adults of America, to prove your maturity, intelligence, and ability to make decisions by how you react, behave, and conduct yourself in this controversial question. What is your answer to this challenge?"
-Can You Meet the Challenge by Jane Emery
"In classrooms the negroes are accepted as individuals and have generally shown themselves to be capable students and not so different from their white classmates."
-Nita Lynn Taylor
"...the belief was widely expressed that the only violence that did result from integration at LRCHS was the fault of the city's adults--not the students of Central High....The students were given credit for a maturity and calmness that many of their elders did not display."
-No Time For Immaturity by Mike Barrier
Ernest Green was the first African-American to graduate from Central High, on May 27, 1958. Below, he talks about his graduation:
Video courtesy of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaHzCCh0twg
One of many letters Daisy received supporting her and the Nine:
Source: Wisconsin Historical Society Archives
"As a white skinned person myself, I am deeply ashamed that children should have to go through such difficulties in order to get the kind of education they are entitled to have."
-Gladys Denny Shultz