10/24/2007
On Day of Historic Visit to Massachusetts, Boston Celebrates Civil Rights Heroes 50 Years after Courageous Stand Washington, DC – Senators John Kerry and Edward Kennedy introduced a resolution in the Senate today honoring the Little Rock Nine and their visit to Faneuil Hall in Boston to as part of their 50th Anniversary Celebration.
“I am proud to help welcome the Little Rock Nine to Boston, and I’m glad that with this resolution the United States Senate which once defended segregation now honors those courageous young people who helped break the back of Jim Crow and ‘separate but equal’ in America. I remember first watching the news of the Little Rock Nine on a black and white television set when I was thirteen years old. It was like a punch in the gut to see that kids just a couple years older than me had to risk their lives just to go to school, all because of the color of their skin. Fifty years later, they’re older and grayer, but they still remind us of the journey we have taken and the march we must still finish to truly overcome,” said Senator Kerry. “I am proud to do my small part to honor these men and women today and I hope that citizens of every generation will take some time today to learn the courageous story of these living heroes.”
“The Little Rock Nine endured shouting mobs, the taunts of classmates, and violent threats against their families, to ensure America lives up to its highest ideals. Their courage and selflessness transformed our nation for the better,” said Senator Kennedy.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding Boston’s celebration of the Little Rock Nine on the 50th anniversary of their courageous and selfless stand in the face of hatred, violence and intolerance.
Whereas on October 24, 2007, the legacy of the Little Rock Nine will be celebrated in Boston's Faneuil Hall;
Whereas in Faneuil Hall, Abolitionists of the 19th Century publicly attacked the evils of slavery in America;
Whereas Massachusetts was the center of the United States Abolitionist movement and a national leader in providing public education to all students, regardless of race or ethnicity;
Whereas Abolitionist leader and Newburyport, Massachusetts native William Lloyd Garrison fueled the Abolitionist movement through his powerful writing in his newspaper, The Liberator, and fiery public oratory;
Whereas the "Father of American public education," Franklin, Massachusetts native Horace Mann advocated for the end of slavery and the improved access for all students to quality public education;
Whereas in 1832, Garrison and other Abolitionists gathered at the African Meeting House on Boston's Beacon Hill and founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society;
Whereas in 1855, the Massachusetts Legislature outlawed segregation in the state's public schools;
Whereas on May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling on Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka and declared that segregated education was unconstitutional;
Whereas many elementary and high schools and colleges and universities throughout America continued to enforce a system of educational inequality in which students of color were chronically denied access to their Constitutionally guaranteed right to a quality public education;
Whereas three years after the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling, the school board of Little Rock, Arkansas announced it would implement a gradual integration of their school system beginning in September 1957;
Whereas the Little Rock chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People selected 9 outstanding African-American students to attend previously all white Little Rock Central High School;
Whereas on September 4, 1957, those 9 African-American students, Thelma Mothershed, Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Gloria Ray; Jefferson Thomas, Melba Pattillo, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls and Ernest Green attempted to enter Central High School;
Whereas on September 4, 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus mobilized the Arkansas National Guard and ordered the armed soldiers to block the nine African-American students from entering Central High School;
Whereas after a federal judge ordered Governor Faubus to remove the National Guardsmen, Little Rock police officers and citizens took up positions at the entrances to Central High School and continued to block nine African-American students from entering;
Whereas on September 23, 1957, after learning that the 9 African-American students had successfully entered the school, a segregationist mob gathered at Central High School and the nine African-American students had to be escorted from the school for fear that they would be killed;
Whereas on September 23, 1957, Little Rock Mayor Woodrow Mann, in a telegram to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, appealed to the President to send federal troops to protect the students and ensure the integration of Central High School;
Whereas on September 24, 1957, President Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army to Little Rock and federalized the entire Arkansas National Guard;
Whereas on September 25, 1957, Thelma Mothershed, Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Gloria Ray; Jefferson Thomas, Melba Pattillo, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls and Ernest Green walked through the front doors of Central High School, as thousands of white students had done before them;
Whereas despite the constant presence of U.S. soldiers, the nine African-American students were physically and verbally harassed throughout the school year;
Whereas Minnijean Brown, after enduring months of physical and verbal harassment and assaults, was expelled from Central High School for a verbal retort aimed at one of her antagonists;
Whereas at the end of the 1957-1958 school year, Ernest Green became the first African-American graduate in the history of Central High School;
Whereas Minnijean Brown Trickery became a prominent social activist and works as a writer and social worker in Ontario;
Whereas Ernest Green attended Michigan State University, later served as Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs under President Jimmy Carter and currently is a managing partner and vice president of Lehman Brothers;
Whereas Elizabeth Eckford had a successful career in the same U.S. Army that protected her at Central High School, raised two sons in Little Rock and now works as a social worker;
Whereas Thelma Mothershed-Wair returned to school as a teacher and now volunteers in a program for abused woman;
Whereas Melba Pattillo Beals is an author and journalist for People Magazine and NBC;
Whereas Gloria Ray Karlmark graduated from Illinois Technical College and is a successful computer science writer whose work has been published in 39 countries;
Whereas Terrence Roberts is now Dr. Terrence Roberts and teaches at UCLA and Antioch College and also works as a clinical psychologist;
Whereas Jefferson Thomas graduated from Central in 1960 and works for the Department of Defense as an accountant;
Whereas Carlotta Walls Lanier graduated from Central in 1959, attended Michigan State University and has found success in the field of real estate;
Whereas the Little Rock Nine, in brave defiance of segregation, proved that with access to educational opportunity all students are capable of greatness, regardless of race or ethnicity;
Whereas the courage of the Little Rock Nine, broadcast for the entire world to see, inspired other students, of all colors, to take stands on behalf of tolerance, integration and equality;
Whereas the courage of the Little Rock Nine, demonstrated to segregationists throughout America that hatred and intolerance were no match for the bravery of nine high school students;
Whereas fifty years after the integration of Central High School, all Americans must remain vigilant in order to ensure that every child has access to quality public education, regardless of their race or ethnicity: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) joins with the people of Massachusetts in honoring the courage of the Little Rock Nine.;
(2) pledges to advance the legacy of the Little Rock Nine
(3) endeavors to ensure that no American is denied access to education because of their race or ethnicity; and
(4) encourages the people of the United States to remember--
(A) the courage of the Little Rock Nine; and
(B) the vital importance of education equality.
Excellent history lesson plus where are they now.
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