With students back in
school, the September traditions of a new academic year have been largely
rewritten to accommodate the novel coronavirus. The debate over the merits of
virtual learning relative to in-person which began last spring at the outset of
the pandemic is ongoing. But, September is known for memorable and historic
educational developments that impact Black Americans.
When the Supreme Court
ruled that school segregation was unconstitutional in Brown v.
Board of Education, many schools began planning ways to circumvent the law.
In Little Rock, however, the district asked Black students interested in
attending its largest high school to apply. There were approximately 80
applications, and those students were subjected to robust interviews. The nine
who were chosen became known as the “Little Rock Nine.”
The Little Rock
Central High School crisis
On September 4, the
day they were to start school, the nine students arrived at Central High where
an angry mob greeted them. Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus had dispatched the
National Guard to prevent them from entering the school. A federal judge
ordered Faubus to
remove the National Guard, and while Faubus complied, angry Whites continued to
harass the students as they attempted to enroll. On September 25, 1957
President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent the 101st
Airborne to Little Rock to escort the students to class, integrating the
school and providing protection for the remainder of the semester.
James Meredith and Ole
Miss
Five years later the
fight to have access to all-White colleges claimed the educational limelight
when James
Meredith enrolled at the University of Mississippi. Meredith had been
studying at the all-Black Jackson State College when the NAACP helped him sue
Ole Miss, alleging racial discrimination. In 1962, Meredith won the lawsuit on
appeal with a ruling from the Supreme Court.
Fierce resistance led by Mississippi’s state leaders including Governor Ross Barnett resulted in chaos and riots that left two dead and many others injured. Attorney General Robert Kennedy sent federal troops to Mississippi and federalized the National Guard, which amounted to a federal occupation with 31,000 troops. And, on October 1, 1962, Meredith enrolled at the University. He graduated from Ole Miss the following year.
