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N0KFQ > TODAY 04.09.14 16:16l 62 Lines 2890 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 35202_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Sep 4
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<OK0NBR<PY1AYH<PY1AYH<CX2SA<ZL2BAU<N0KFQ
Sent: 140904/1406Z 35202@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
Sep 4, 1957:
Arkansas troops prevent desegregation
Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus enlists the National Guard to
prevent nine African American students from entering Central High
School in Little Rock. The armed Arkansas militia troops
surrounded the school while an angry crowd of some 400 whites
jeered, booed, and threatened to lynch the frightened African
American teenagers, who fled shortly after arriving. Faubus took
the action in violation of a federal order to integrate the
school. The conflict set the stage for the first major test of
the U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous 1954 decision in Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in
educational facilities is unconstitutional.
The historic decision, which brought an end to federal tolerance
of racial segregation, specifically dealt with Linda Brown, a
young African American girl who had been denied admission to her
local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color
of her skin.
In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that
"separate but equal" accommodations in railroad cars conformed to
the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection. That ruling
was used to justify segregating all public facilities, including
elementary schools. However, in the case of Linda Brown, the
white school she attempted to attend was far superior to her
black alternative and miles closer to her home. The National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) took up
Linda's cause, and in 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
reached the Supreme Court. African American lawyer (and future
Supreme Court justice) Thurgood Marshall led Brown's legal team,
and on May 17, 1954, the high court handed down its decision.
In an opinion written by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the nation's
highest court ruled that not only was the "separate but equal"
doctrine unconstitutional in Linda's case, it was
unconstitutional in all cases because educational segregation
stamped an inherent badge of inferiority on African American
students. A year later, after hearing arguments on the
implementation of their ruling, the Supreme Court published
guidelines requiring public school systems to integrate "with all
deliberate speed."
In 1957, the first major confrontation over this decision came
when African American students attempted to integrate Central
High School in Little Rock. After Governor Faubus surrounded the
school with Arkansas National Guard troops, a showdown with
federal officials ensued. On September 24, President Dwight
Eisenhower sent 1,000 U.S. troops to Little Rock. The next day,
the African American students entered under heavily armed guard.
The episode served as a catalyst for the integration of other
segregated schools in the United States.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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