Executive Order 10730: Little Rock Nine: Integration of the University of Alabama

    Executive Order 10730: Little Rock Nine: Integration of the University of Alabama

      Oops, they did it again in 1963 when President John F. Kennedy had to federalize the Alabama National Guard in order to desegregate the University of Alabama after Governor George Wallace made it clear he would ignore a court order to desegregate. Wallace was elected in 1963 on a platform of "Segregation now! Segregation tomorrow! Segregation forever!" Here's a little sample from his inaugural speech:

      And so it was meant in our racial lives . . . each race, within its own framework has the freedom to teach. . . to instruct . . . to develop . . . to ask for and receive deserved help from others of separate racial stations. This is the great freedom of our American founding fathers . . . but if we amalgamate into the one unit as advocated by the communist philosophers . . . then the enrichment of our lives . . . the freedom for our development . . . is gone forever. We become, therefore, a mongrel unit of one under a single all powerful government . . . and we stand for everything . . . and for nothing. (Source)

      Wallace believed that the Brown decision didn't apply in Alabama, even though Attorney General Robert Kennedy had just reminded him a couple of months earlier that the state of Alabama was located in the United States. So when two African American students attempted to enroll at 'Bama, JFK knew it wasn't gonna go so well.

      Just like in Little Rock, a federal district court had ruled in May of 1963 that the University must enroll the two students, Vivien Malone and James Hood. Wallace made it clear he planned on refusing them entrance even if it meant blocking the door himself. On June 10, JFK took control of the Alabama National Guard and sent them to Tuscaloosa to enforce the university's desegregation. He put the Army's 2nd Infantry Division on notice just in case.

      On June 11, a defiant Wallace made good on his promise of personally blocking the doorway to the college admission building and waited for the feds to arrive. JFK issued another "cease and desist proclamation." It was a "Make my day" kind of scenario, another televised showdown that was exactly what Wallace wanted. JFK sent his Deputy Attorney General, Nicholas Katzenbach, to read the proclamation to Wallace and demand his guarantee that the students could enroll and remain on campus.

      Wallace was ready; he had his own proclamation to read, condemning the illegal, unwarranted, tyrannical, freedom-destroying, communist, unconstitutional intrusion of the federal government into the affairs of a sovereign state. How dare the central government suggest they knew what was best for the people of Alabama, for whom he had the constitutional responsibility to uphold the laws of the state? Katzenbach listened politely and asked him once again to stop the obstruction of justice. Wallace accused Kennedy of running a military dictatorship.

      The cameras kept running.

      Since Wallace had ignored the Proclamation, Kennedy issued Executive Order 11111 as the next step…he could probably write these things in his sleep by now. A National Guard officer approached Wallace and said it was his sad duty to inform him that earlier that day the President had called him into federal service and that he was asking Wallace to step aside. After one more swipe at the feds, Wallace praised the brave people of Alabama for remaining calm, asked them to continue being calm and have faith in the cause, and stepped aside. Mission accomplished: Malone and Wood enrolled for the summer term.

      On November 15, 19, a bomb went off near Vivian Malone's dorm. Wallace said he was coming to campus to remove Malone from the University for the safety of the other students, but the administration told him to back off—they weren't taking her out of school.

      The situation in Alabama was the same state vs. federal government conflict, but this time without the violent protestors. Wallace had seen what happened in Little Rock and Ole Miss, and knew he had no choice except to step aside if he wanted to avoid a military confrontation.

      There were no screaming mobs this time to threaten Malone and Wood, and no one got hurt—most likely because this wasn't a spontaneous happening. Everyone knew what to expect and were prepared for it. By this time, people knew that no amount of violent protest was going to successfully defy a federal court order because the feds were ready and willing to deploy troops to get the job done.

      In 1964, Bob Dylan sang:

      Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call.
      Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall.

      The times, they were a-changin'.