THE LITTLE ROCK NINE

BY: KANTHEIA MCKINNEY

    On September 4, 1957, nine black students tried to enter Little Rock Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas, but they had a little trouble trying to get in. Governor Orville Faubus sent the Arkansas National Guard to stand in front of the school so the Little Rock Nine wouldn't enter. The Governor didn't want the students to enter the school because he wanted to protect the white students and segregation.

    One student came in late. Her name was Elizabeth Eckford. While she was approaching the school Elizabeth met a mob of white people in front of the school. Some of the people called her names. "We donít want that nigger going to our school," they would scream. Some other people would yell, "Let's hang that nigger on that tree." When Elizabeth saw the mob she turned around and went toward a bench. The reason Elizabeth walked to the bench was because she thought she would be safe there.

    Later on that year President Eisenhower sent the U.S National Guard to Little Rock Central High to protect the Little Rock Nine from the whites attacking them. The guards had to follow the students everywhere they went. Some of the white students said they could get used to the black students going to the school.

    Melba Beals, one of the Little Rock Nine, remembers that they wanted access to have a good education. Another one of the nine, Ernest Green, said "We wanted to wanted to widen options for ourselves and later on in the future for our kids." They also knew that education would make a difference.

    Some of the Nine spoke about the obstacles they had to go through just to get into a school. They had to put up with the insults the whites would say to them and many other nasty things they would have to deal with. Some of their parents lost their jobs because their kids were integrating into a white school. Some whites would come to their houses and burn crosses in their familiesí yards or they would harass the kids at school. One day one of the students went to her locker. She found manure in her locker and she went to the principal to tell him what had happened. He told her to clean it up but she said that she wouldnít do it. So the principal found a janitor to clean the mess up.

    After I heard about this I was shocked to hear it. These types of things are very educational and everyone needs to learn about them. The Little Rock Nine have made their way into history and they have changed the way we live today.

THE "LITTLE ROCK NINE" are:

- Melba Beals, 55, a communications consultant in Sausalito,CA.

- Elizabeth Eckford, 55, of Little Rock.

- Ernest Green, 56, an investment banker in Washington D.C.

- Gloria Klamart, 55, a research scientist & patent lawyer in Stockholm, Sweden.

- Carlotta Lainer, 54, a real estate agent in Denver,CO.

- Terrence Roberts, 55, a clinical psychologist in Pasadena, CA.

- Jefferson Thomas, 55, an accountant in Columbus, Ohio.

- Minniejean Trickey, 56, a social worker in Ontario, Canada.

- Thelma Wair, 56, a retired home economics teacher in Belleville, IL.