User:Atd5/Little Rock Nine

The Little Rock Nine refer to nine students who were initially prevented from taking classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, AR, in 1957. Three years after Brown v. Board, Little Rock Central School Destrict began to implement a gradual integration program for the 1957 school year.The first black students enrolled in Central High were minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Terrance Roberts, Jefferson Thomas and Carlotta Walls.[2] Each of the students was hand-picked by the NAACP on account of their exceptional academic records at segregated schools.

But the Little Rock Nine, as they came to be known, would not attend their first day of classes. The White Citizens' Council organized a mob of segregationists to block the front entrance and prevent the students from entering.The mob, shouting “Two, four, six, eight, we ain’t gonna integrate!” threw projectiles at the school building and spat on the black students trying to enter. Under the pretense of maintaining public order, Governor Orval Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the students from attending classes.

Constitutional Crisis
In nullifying the city’s own integration plan and opposing the mandate of Brown v. Board, Governor Faubus and the State of Arkansas were in open defiance of the Supreme Court and President Eisenhower. Arkansas’ non-cooperation quickly evolved into one of the worst constitutional crises since Reconstruction and an embarrassment to the Eisenhower Administration. In a meeting with the President, Governor Faubus had agreed to withdraw the National Guard and allow the Little Rock Nine to attend school. However, upon his return—and possibly due to pressure from his statewide, pro-segregation constituency—Faubus reneged on his promise.At the request of Little Rock Mayor Woodrow Mann, Eisenhower responded by nationalizing the Arkansas National Guard and deploying the Army’s 101st Airborne Division.The troops essentially occupied the school, allowing the students to enter and protecting them in the hallways between classes. It was the first time the federal government deployed troops in the South since Reconstruction.