How Did The Little Rock Nine Influence The Civil Rights Movement?

There were many types of mediums in the time of the civil rights movement. Some include television, radio, and newspapers. These different sources have described experiences of the Little Rock Nine both accurately and inaccurately. The Little Rock Nine was a group of African American boys and girls, including Carlotta Walls LaNier, who integrated into the local public high-school, Central. They have gone through hardships just trying to get a good education, and have had personal guards because of mobs forming outside of the school. The Little Rock Nine have helped put an influence on integration throughout the time of the Civil Rights Movement. Even after graduating, they are all remembered for their work in Little Rock, Arkansas.

As a result

of continuing segregation in Arkansas, and other "southern states," citizens had a hard time accepting the integrated students; Carlotta Walls LaNier, Melba Patillo Beals, Minnijean Brown-Trickey, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Gloria Ray Karlmarl, Thelma Mothershed-Wair, Terrence Roberts, and Jefferson Thomas. The integration was a big problem for most white people in the area. White parents were worried about their children's safety, and cross-racial marriages. In reality, however, it was much worse for the Little Rock Nine. They were kicked, spat on, name-called, and underestimated all day, every day. Some mediums such as newspapers and radio news reported inaccurate behaviors of the Nine, which were usually the actions of the white kids instead. ¨Wild and erroneous reports about students being beaten and bloodied...News reports painted a picture of a city out of control with random mobs roaming the streets, terrorizing any black residents they could find...(Carlotta Book pages 90-91 ).¨ This quote shows how horrible, and villainous the white people were to the blacks. There were many occurrences in Little Rock that kept getting worse and worse for the black people. The radio news reports were usually broadcasted by white people (some were broadcasted by colored people) and sometimes exaggerated. Another example of inaccurate information on mediums is the Little Rock Nine´s Thanksgiving dinner. They were thought to be rich and happy (living the American Dream), but they really were not. They were still treated horribly and didn´t know what the future would hold for them.
There are also forms of accurate mediums such as television news. Television news was more reliable because viewers could see surroundings and the speaker. Some people also found television news to be more interesting to watch and listen to. An example of accurate broadcasting is when someone is quoted. Melba Pattillo was quoted by saying,¨ I had to become a warrior...I had to learn not how to dress the best but how to get from that door to the end of the hall without dying (Little Rock Girl page 22).¨ That quote was broadcasted on CNN news and showed how courageous the Little Rock Nine had to be to get their education. They were confronted by bullies, segregationists, and mobs. It became hard for the Nine to get through a single day without feeling sad and discouraged. The television network helped the message of the Nine to get through to some people. ¨...The Little Rock Nine shaped views on race and justice...It was Little Rock that made racial equality a driving obsession in my life (Little Rock Girl page 46).¨
The works of the Little Rock Nine being seen on public mediums all over the United States helped people strive for desegregation and integration. Television and the news greatly influenced change in the feelings against colored people, including the Little Rock Nine. The Little Rock Nine have also helped push to racial equality, and justice for all colored people.