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Post-war American society - AQACivil rights - school desegregation

New hopes and opportunities were created by economic recovery after World War Two. However, this was also a period of political hysteria. The struggle for civil rights put activism at the forefront of American political life.

Part of HistoryAmerica, 1920-1973

Civil rights - school desegregation

African Americans had always resisted and struggled for racial equality and justice. However, in the 1950s and 1960s, the activism of several organisations and communities made significant strides towards freedom in access to education.

A small group of African American people holding up signs protesting school segregation
Image caption,
NAACP members in St Louis, Missouri protesting school segregation

Segregation laws

Legal racial had been upheld by the in the 1896 Plessy v Ferguson case. The court ruled that African Americans could be "separate but equal". This led to the solidifying of in the South and of racist cultures across America. Segregation was legally protected, so African Americans and activists had to struggle against it.

School desegregation

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People used a range of tactics, including to fight for equality. In 1954 the NAACP鈥檚 lawyers won the school Supreme Court case known as Brown v Board of Education. The court ruled that "separate but equal had no place in education". This ruling only applied to schools. However, it showed that segregation generally was losing its lawfulness.

The Little Rock crisis, 1957

After the Brown v Board of Education ruling, only some school boards began to desegregate their schools, and they did so slowly. This was because the Supreme Court had not given a specific timeframe for desegregation to happen. Additionally, some cities and communities refused to comply with the ruling.

A photograph of nine students walking behind a soldier who is escorting them
Image caption,
The black students at Little Rock being escorted by troops

The local school board in Little Rock, Arkansas, decided to proceed with school desegregation. In September 1957, supported by local NAACP branch leader Daisy Bates, nine African American students attempted to attend Central High School in Little Rock.

There was a fierce backlash in the local community. organised against the desegregation of Central High School. On the first day of the school term, a large angry mob gathered outside the school to show their opposition to desegregation and to intimidate the African American students. Two of the students who attended Central High School in Little Rock were Elizabeth Eckford and Minnijean Brown.

Elizabeth Eckford arrived alone on her first day at school. She was surrounded by a mob who were loud and intimidating. Despite this she still atended when she was able
Minnijean Brown was bullied persistently by racist white students. She reacted by pouring chilli on one of the bullies. She was expelled when she was involved in an argument with a white student.

The of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, upheld segregation by using the Arkansas National Guard to stop the nine African American students from attending Central High School. This was illegal. To resolve the crisis, President Dwight D Eisenhower intervened to ensure the Little Rock Nine could attend Central High School.