Tuesday, September 25, 2007

US MARKS 1957 INTEGRATION CRISIS !

Ex-US President Bill Clinton is in his home state of Arkansas to mark the 50th anniversary of the integration crisis at Little Rock Central High School.
The crisis saw a three week stand-off between a group of nine black students and an angry mob who wanted to stop them attending the all-white school.
The crisis was only ended when President Dwight D Eisenhower sent in troops to control the crowds.
The event became a seminal moment in the civil rights struggle in the US.
'Celebrate courage'
A series of events is being held in Little Rock to celebrate the integration of Central High School.
At a gala on Monday evening, Mr Clinton said Americans needed to continue to improve race relations.
"It is easy to celebrate the courage of others for what they did 50 years ago," he said.
It is another thing altogether to build the world our children would like to live in 50 years from now."
The US Supreme Court had ruled in 1954 that segregated classrooms were unconstitutional.
But three years later, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus attempted to block the Little Rock Nine, as the group of students became known, from enrolling at Central High.
President Eisenhower eventually had to send in troops from the 101st Airborne division to escort the group to class, dealing opponents of the black civil rights movement a crushing blow.
The BBC's James Coomarasamy, in Little Rock, says the ceremony to mark one of the key events of the civil rights era takes place at a moment when America is examining the state of its race relations following last week's protest in the Louisiana town of Jena.
The case there of jailed black high school children, with its allegations of unequal racially-based justice, has for some brought back memories of those earlier, less enlightened times being remembered in Little Rock, our correspondent adds.
BBC NEWS REPORT.

Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home