High School Integration

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The Integration of Central High Chip Carter Mr. Estes American History II, C-Block 11 March 2014 1957 was a year of irony and progress. It started and ended on “Tuesday” and progressed from the common though that African Americans were not equal to white people to more equality between the two races. It was a difficult time of change of Americans as the Civil Rights Movement was at its peak in 1957. One of the main headlines that year was the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1954 the Supreme Court decided that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. As one of the first schools to integrate Central High School because known for the Little Rock Nine, a group of nine selected African American students that changed history and started to change the common thought of African Americans to a positive one. For the purpose of this paper I will discuss the positive effects of Central High School’s integration and the Little Rock Nine. In 1954, the Supreme Court decided that the segregation in public schools would be unconstitutional. About a year later they reiterated the declaration that segregation is unconstitutional and said that they needed to desegregate “with all deliberate speed.” Some school district started to figure out loopholes to get around the desegregation but school officials at Little Rock, AK said that they would agree to desegregate and comply with what the Supreme Court said. School district officials created a system so that black students interested in attending white only schools could go, but there was a catch. They had to be put through a series of rigorous interviews to determine whether they were suited for admission. School officials interviewed abou... ... middle of paper ... ...n (ABHM Pg. 2) Central High, was that they were taking a baby step to gaining equality for their race. The Civil Rights Movement was a difficult but necessary time of change in America. In 1963 Daisy Bates, President of the Arkansas chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said “More than any other single event in many years, Little Rock demonstrated the gaping discrepancy between the Declaration of Independence, one of the most precious documents of American history, and the reality of twentieth century America… The impact on Americans and on the world was one of Little Rock’s historical contributions to the over- all crusade for rights and dignity.” Our county was built on equality but to this day we continue the crusade for it, racially, sexually, religiously, etc. It takes courage to change and the Little Rock Nine embodied that.

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