A member of the Little Rock Nine looks back

I have complete respect for these people. They taught all of us a lesson about right and wrong. I look forward to the day when we all grow enough to drop labels (African-American, Hispanic-American, etc) and refer to each other as Americans. Equality has nothing to do with skin color. It should not even be a consideration.

If we don't learn from History we are doomed to repeat it.

My uncle was with the 101st Airborne unit that replaced the not-so-hot National Guard troops that were in place at the beginning (he said that they were even more racist than the people protesting). Man, does he have some stories to tell about that time and place.

Before you call the members of the Tea Party racists, ask yourself: who DON'T they talk nasty about? Not very discriminating.
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Bet you they never imagined a black president over their lifetime.

I remember this. I watched it on TV. My folks said it was history in the making. It made no sense to me why they were trying to keep these kids OUT of school.

Faubus was a pre civil rights Democrat...when the blacks were mostly Republicans and the racists were mostly Democrats...Eisenhower was a war veteran recruited by the republicans and was one of the mosy liberal humans on earth at the time...the mid to late 60s changed the partys and the Blacks migrated to the Democratic party while the racists went to the Republican party...where most still reside today. My father took off work and took me to go see what this was all about the first day and after that he was never a racist again...he saw what those folks tried to do and it changed him forever. He also made me watch eisenhowers farewell speech where he warned us....To be Evre Vigilent of the Direct and Indirect Influence of the Military Industrial Complex on YOUR Government...I have never forgotten that day and those words...its bitting us all in our collective #$%$ while we sit and watch

All the tremendous strides that were made during that time. Such amazing courage and steadfast resolve. True American heroes.
Then hip hop takes us back to square one.

I was a little kid in Little Rock during what was called the desegregation crisis. My cousin, who lived with us, was a senior at Central that year. I remember being scared for Ernest Green at the graduation ceremony in the spring. We learned a lot about life from the events of that year and from the insights of my dad, a man ahead of his time.

First off back in the day Blacks were never referred to as African Americans. They wanted to do everything in their power to forget about the hardships related to slavery. Secondly schools such as this one in Little Rock had to change the curriculum to fit the education associated with what these new Black students had been taught in the past.
These nine students benefitted greatly from attending school with Whites. The whole process was to give Blacks the same education that Whites had been receiving.
In today's society there are so many students of various ethnicities attending the same classes that everyone who wants to can receive a great education.

sad

Ahh, the Yahoo comment thread - truly the sewer of the internet

In spite of the willfull-ignorance-driven comments of some of the trolls posting here, racism in the United States did not, repeat NOT come from the U.S. Democratic Party. Like the mob infiltrating the Teamsters, racists infiltrated Democratic organizations in the South; elsewhere, more progressive-minded individuals built up the Democratic Party that would be responsible for passing the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. After these two landmark legislations, the segregationists, white citizens' councils, and klansmen bailed out of their Dixiecrat organizations, to join the Republican Party of Barry "Extremism Is No Vice" Goldwater and Richard "Tricky Dick" Nixon. [Open Sarcastic Mode] Such charming folks [close sarcastic mode].

Eisenhower, bless his soul, was the last Republican president to show genuine concern about civil rights, let alone accept as a given the supremacy of the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Federal Government. Today's "crop" of Republitards are steadfast in their unwillingness to accept the premise of unconditional civil rights & the need for a strong Federal Government to uphold those rights.

Wow I don't know if I would've had the courage to face that. I remember seeing the documentary on television and how the whites would spit and hit the black girls and the one guy was being ignored by most teachers. How sinful.

I'm a senior at Little Rock Central and I can promise you, 50 something years later and things haven't really changed for the better. The school is a mess, and the reason no one ever hears about it is because they had the best damage control teams I've ever seen patching up holes that would tarnish the "sterling" and "shining example of perfect societal harmony" reputation that keeps us afloat and keeps the money pouring in.

Ms Green deserves a gold medal for her bravery, and fortitude. The abuse this young teenager took on the part of the racist was incredible. If you had seen what I saw growing up in the 60's you would agree that we are far better off. That was a time when blacks had separate schools, separate housing, separate rest rooms, separate water fountains, back of the bus for blacks, no sitting with whites at the theater, blantant job discrimination, a discriminatory justice system, and no associating with whites and a public place.
Almost every one that I grew up with was a racist or a bigot in some form. I grew to despise there ignorance and hatred. And I still don't understand it.

Racial hatred is still alive and well. Just look at the comments. How many of those jerks are Republicans, I wonder.

Flip Wilson said it best: "We are ALL pink on the inside honey!!"

We have not advanced very far. There was an article today about a white woman who was denied admission into a college because of her race. Two wrongs don't make a right.

I hope all those bright white people who turn up in this film are forever humiliated. What a disgusting sight.