Litttle Rock Nine - 1439 Words

Prejudices will always be prevalent in some way, shape, or form. If feelings of racial superiority are allowed to fester, eventually they can become strong enough to push people to radical actions. The Little Rock Nine is a group of nine African-American students who decided to make a stand and make a large step towards breaking down the walls of segregation. Despite evident opposition, their determination and fortitude set in motion a series of events that have accelerated the progress of integration within the United States. The lessons learned from those young children will forever be applicable to our lives in the past, present, and for what is to come. In the town of Little Rock, Arkansas, nine African-American children from similar†¦show more content†¦Ernest endured the hatred from the students and despite threats and requests aimed at preventing him from graduating; he became the first African-American to graduate from Little Rock Central High School. Ernest’s accomplishment did in fact give the world one more example that African-American’s were just as intelligent as white people were. As Ernest reminisced about how far integration had come, he said that,† What we had accomplished had a huge impact on the progress of integration, but we are nowhere near the point we should be. I’ll continue to do everything I can to promote integration to this day.† Minnijean Brown was remembered as the student that was driven out of the Little Rock Central High School. One day during lunch at school, Minnijean was making her way to the table where the nine African-American students routinely sat together. On her way to the table, she was confronted and surrounded by a group of white male students that would not allow her to pass. She stood still all the while the boys taunted and heckled her. Somewhere in the midst of the situation, her bowl of chili ended up on the boy’s head. This act, regardless if it was intentional, immediately resulted in her suspension. After some unrest amongst the NAACP, and some meetings with the vice principal, Minnijean returned to school. After a few months of the usual harassment from students, a white female student beat her with a purse filled with