In the history of racial justice and, more specifically, desegregation, the Little Rock Nine are the black children who were enrolled at the formerly segregated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Along with the push from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Supreme Court ruling that deemed segregated schools unconstitutional forced allowed activists to start the desegregation process.
While there were many people involved in the Little Rock Nine process, Daisy Bates was probably the most integral because she was the president of the Arkansas chapter of the NAACP during this era. Today, Daisy Bates is not very well-known outside of Arkansas, but she should be given more recognition for her contribution to desegregation.
The Origin of Daisy Bates
Daisy Bates was driven towards racial activism at a very young age because her mother was murdered by three white men when Bates was just three years old (Norwood). This racist act would ignite the eternal dedication of Bates in fighting racial injustice. After being raised in a foster home, Bates started a newspaper with her husband, The Arkansas Weekly. The content of this paper focused on the Civil Rights Movement, and Bates furthered her involvement with Civil Rights as she sought to work with local organizations. Eventually, she found a career in the NAACP as the president of its Arkansas chapter.
The Little Rock Nine
Following the 1954 Supreme Court ruling that “separate but equal” schools were unconstitutional, Bates and every other civil rights activist immediately started trying to make the ruling a reality. Bates began by advertising and searching for highly qualified students to whom the Board of Education could not deny admittance to Central High School. After finding upstanding candidates for this desegregation effort, Bates also had to jump over the hurdle that was the parents of these children.
Knowing that these black children would undoubtedly be facing violence and active efforts to prevent them from attending the formerly all-white school, it was difficult for some parents to allow their children to participate. Ultimately, Bates ended up with a group of nine students, five boys, and four girls, that would become known as the Little Rock Nine.
Unfortunately, even though federal law now stated that segregated schools were illegal, many local efforts around the United States were made to prevent the integration of schools. As the new school year began, so were the efforts to desegregate Central High School.
On the first day of school, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to deny entry of the black students into the school (Williams). After a couple of weeks, however, President Dwight Eisenhower intervened, sending the 101st Airborne to escort the Little Rock Nine to school. Fifty years later, Minniejean Brown Trickey and Ernest Greene of the Little Rock Nine could recall the chaotic and dramatic scene that took place at Bates’s house. Because Bates’s place served as a sort of headquarters for the Little Rock Nine, that is where the 101st Airborne would pick them up for the next several weeks to escort them. The movement ultimately succeeded, with one member of the group graduating that academic year.
Interestingly, while Bates could not attend the graduation as it might have triggered a violent outburst, Martin Luther King Jr. attended the graduation ceremony.
Her Legacy
After the whirlwind of her success with desegregated Central High School, Bates continued her civil rights activism under a more local spotlight. She recorded the Little Rock Nine events from her perspective in her memoir titled The Long Shadow of Little Rock (NPS). Ten years after her work with the Little Rock Nine, Bates moved to Mitchellville, Arkansas, where she continued to employ her organizational prowess to improve her local community. Mitchellville was a mostly black, impoverished town, but Bates encouraged the residents to work together to improve the community with their available resources.
While Daisy Bates is not a commonly recognized figure, Arkansas actually has a local holiday called Daisy Gatson Bates Day to acknowledge and respect her role in the Civil Rights Movement.
While her role in the Civil Rights Movement was focused at a local level, she is nonetheless an inspirational figure who made national waves for civil rights. As the mastermind behind the Little Rock nine, Bates deserves more recognition and acknowledgment for her sacrifices during this effort. The Little Rock Nine is more than one of the first integrated high schools, and its story is well beyond just that.