White rage & the Little Rock Nine
Today in 1957, President Eisenhower sent federal troops to support the integration of Little Rock Central High School.
Ike did his job even though he disagreed with the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Rather than give into racism, the former general upheld his vow to support and defend the US Constitution.
Woodrow Wilson Mann, the Mayor of Little Rock, also opposed the ruling, but he directed the school board to plan for gradual integration, beginning with nine black students at LRCHS in September 1957.
Governor Orval Faubus dispatched the Arkansas National Guard to stop the Little Rock Nine from entering the school. The Guardsmen did not, however, prevent white mobs from harassing the nine teens and beating Alex Wilson, a black journalist from Memphis.
Mayor Mann requested federal troops to restore order, and Eisenhower — moved by photos of mob violence against Wilson — deployed the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division to escort the Little Rock Nine to school for the next several months.
Elizabeth Eckford and the rest of the Little Rock Nine persevered bravely through a difficult…
