The members of the Little Rock Nine were Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Pattillo Beals. They were hoping to attend an all white school, Central High School, on September 4th, 1957. When the students saw the Guards they believed they were there to keep them safe, but that not was the case. The soldiers raised their guns at the blacks and not the people harassing them. The Arkansas National Guard did not allow the Nine to enter the school for three weeks. Three days after Governor Faubus removed his soldiers, the Little Rock Police escorted the Little Rock Nine into the school through a side entrance. A few hours after the Nine entered the school, rioting broke out within the more than a thousand whites outside.
The governor of Arkansas was furious that the Little Rock Nine members were entering an all white school. Governor Faubus was doing everything in his power to keep the nine students out of his schools. Until September 25th he did keep them out of Little Rock Central High School. On September 25th, President Dwight D. Eisenhower stepped in and guided the nine students into the school to attend their first day of full classes. Governor Faubus was furious that the Little Rock Nine members were entering the school, so to stop desegregation in his school’s, he shut all Little Rock schools down. His plan did not work though, the Supreme Court ruled this unconstitutional and schools were reopened and desegregation continued.
On the student’s first day of school, many were taunted and made fun of by other white students. White students would use harmful words and scream them at the black students who entered the school that day. White students would kick and push the black students down the stairs, a white student even spat on while entering the school. Throughout the years, the taunting never stopped from the white students. One student was expelled from Little Rock Central High School because she was yelling at a white student who was insulting her. Even though all the black students were taunted, eight out of the nine students graduated from Little Rock Central High School and all continued their education.
The first of the black to graduate from Central High School, was Ernest Green. Eight out of the nine Little Rock Nine graduated from Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The only one who did not graduate was Minnijean Brown, she was expelled for yelling at a girl who was insulting and kicking her. After high school one of the Little Rock Nine, Jefferson Thomas, went to college and got a degree in business. He also served in the Army in Vietnam. Jefferson Thomas died recently in 2010 of pancreatic cancer, he was 67.
All the members of the Little Rock Nine were awarded Congressional Gold medals. The nine students were also invited to President Obama’s Inaugural Address in 2009. Eight out of the nine students graduated and continued with their education. All of the Little Rock Nine members graduated from high school and all went to college. After graduating from Little Rock Central, Gloria Ray Karlmark attended the Illinois Institute of Technology, Terrance Roberts attended the California State University, and Minnijean Brown was expelled from Little Rock Central High School but still finished her education at New Lincoln School.
While many people believed that racial segregation was over, but just recently in 2013, a school in Wilcox, Georgia had their first integrated prom. People argued that the kids could not decide between “white music” and “black music”. Ashley Saylor was told that she should not bring her black boyfriend to prom and just “Bring someone who is white”. The segregated prom was a tradition of 40 years, but that is no excuse for separating the students.