little rock 1957
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Connection Describe the key events of the Bus Boycott 1955-1956 and
explain why the event was so important
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 that outlawed segregation
in public facilities was declared unconstitutional in
1883 by an all-white Supreme Court.
The Big Picture
• The Little Rock Incident
• L/O
• Students will;
• Be aware of the events that took place at Little Rock High School in 1957
Activation
• Background to the Little Rock Incident
Jim Crow Laws - Aimed at separating the races,
especially in the South. These laws forbade marriage
between blacks and whites, separate schools, separate
streetcars, waiting rooms, railroad coaches, elevators,
witness stands, public restrooms.
The facilities provided
for blacks were always
inferior to those of
whites. African
Americans had to read
the humiliating signs
that read, "Colored
Water"; "No Blacks
Allowed"; "Whites
Only!" on a daily basis.
African-Americans tried to escape racism by
moving north after the Civil War.
A mass migration from the South to the North
resulted from the start of World War I. Known as
the Great Migration, African-Americans left
sharecropping to seek industrial jobs in the North.
Racial prejudice
and segregation
still continued in
the north.
Whites resented
job competition
and housing was
difficult to find.
Often violence
resulted between
the races.
World War II help set the stage for the civil rights
movement in three ways:
With white soldiers being drafted, a white male
laborer shortage occurred opening job opportunities
for African Americans, Latinos, and women.
Because of the need
for soldiers,
discriminatory
policies ended and
one million African
Americans served in
WWII. Returning
African American
soldiers were
determined to fight
for equality.
During the war,
civil rights
organizations
campaigned for
African-American
voting rights and
challenged the Jim
Crow laws.
Because of protests,
President Roosevelt
issued an executive
order that prohibited
racial discrimination
by federal agencies
and all companies
engaged in war
work.
Thus, the
foundation had
been laid for
ending
segregation
throughout the
U.S.
The NAACP was
the leading
organizer against
segregation.
Houston focused on the
inequality between the
regular schools and the
separate schools that
many states maintained.
The most outstanding difference was in funding
public education and segregated schools. African-
American children received ten times less than a
white child for education, and Houston challenged
the system with this information.
Several cases
became
landmark
cases in
ending
Plessy v.
Ferguson
segregation:
Brown v. Board of
Education
May 17, 1954, 8-year
old Linda Brown had
been denied admission
to an all-white
elementary school four
blocks from her home.
The nearest
all-black
elementary
was 21 blocks
away.
The verdict
reversed Plessy v.
Ferguson declaring
it unconstitutional
and a violation of
equal protection of
the laws under the
14th amendment.
Brown v. Board
of Education
would affect 12
million
schoolchildren in
21 states.
November 14, 1960,
the nation watched as
six-year-old Ruby
Nell Bridges walked
into William Frantz
Elementary School
and into history.
Her walk inspired
the 1964 Norman
Rockwell painting
"The Problem We
All Live With," a
small black girl
escorted by four
federal marshals
walking to school
beside a wall
bearing a scrawled
racial epithet.
Official reaction to
the ruling was mixed.
Many governors
pledged to keep
segregation permanent.
Others said
segregation would take
years to be in place,
while others expected
segregation to end
quickly.
In 1955, the Supreme Court handed down a
second ruling that became known as Brown II that
ordered all schools to desegregate with speed.
President
Eisenhower initially
refused to enforce
desegregation because
he didn’t want to use
force.
However, Eisenhower would be forced to use
intervention in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Arkansas was the first state to admit African
Americans without being ordered by the court system.
Citizens in Little Rocks had nominated two men to
the school board that favored desegregation.
Governor
Faubus
supported
segregation.
In September 1957, Faubus ordered the National Guard to turn
away nine African-American students known as the “Little Rock
Nine” who were going to attempt to integrate Little Rock’s
Central High School according to Blossom’s desegregation plan.
A federal judge ordered Faubus to admit the
students.
NAACP called eight of the students and made
arrangements to drive them to school.
Elizabeth Eckford, the ninth student could not be
reached. Elizabeth set out for Central High on foot.
Two African American reporters were beaten and
many windows of the school were broken as
Americans watched the televised incident.
Elizabeth escaped
the crowd and made
it to safety to a
nearby bus stop.
After the incident,
Eckford disappeared
from public view and
refused all interview
requests until 1996
when she permitted
Kansas high school
students to video her
for a National
History Day
competition.
The Little Rock incident forced President Eisenhower to act
and he placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal
control and ordered the United States Army to surround the
school, allowing the students to be escorted into the school.
The troops remained in Little Rock for the entire school year.
Inside, African-American
students still faced harassment.
At the end of the
school year,
Faubus closed
Central High so
that integration
could not continue.
On September 9, 1957, Congress passed the Civil Rights
Act of 1957, the first civil rights law since Reconstruction.
Demonstration
• Use pages 141-142 to create your own timeline of events at Little Rock. You will need this to complete the formative assessment task below;
• Homework
• “Describe events at Little Rock High School in 1957” (8 Marks)
9 November 1999
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