In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively reversed the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of 1896, which had declared that segregation was legal under the rubric of "separate but equal."

The Court now ruled that "in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." The response across the South was intense and often furious.

The state of Arkansas shared many of the characteristics of Mississippi and other states in the deep South. In 1940, about twenty-five percent of its population was Black and seventy-eight percent lived in rural areas. Little Rock, Arkansas' capital and only large city, had a sizable Black population, and it is no surprise that it became the center of civil rights activity in the state.

On September 4, 1957, Governor Orval Faubus ordered the National Guard to the all-white Central High School to prevent the enrollment of a group of Black students, who came to be known as the "Little Rock Nine." It was a bold challenge that counterposed the armed might of state government in opposition to federal authority. After days of procrastination, President Eisenhower finally ordered one thousand soldiers from the 101st Airborne to Little Rock to protect the nine students and to bolster the authority of the U.S. government.

There were remarkable people involved in the Little Rock crisis. Most important were the nine students: Minnie Jean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Gloria Ray, Melba Pattillo, Terrance Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls. The story of Daisy Bates, advisor to the Little Rock Nine, is an important reminder of the leading role played by Black women in key struggles in the Civil Rights Movement. It is also the story of the role of key social institutions in the Black community: Ms. Bates was editor of the Arkansas State Press and president of the Arkansas NAACP.

Little Rock continues to play itself out. President Bill Clinton has spoken eloquently and convincingly of the impact of the struggle for racial justice on his own political development. Ernie Green, the only senior among the Little Rock Nine and the sole Black student who graduated with his classmates in 1958, is one of President Bill Clinton's close advisors and friends.

Ronald W. Bailey
Northeastern University

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