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saying that there was resistance to the integration of southern schools

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is like saying Alaska gets a little bit of snow. yeah understatement in a big way.

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when the brown v board ruling came down in 1954 segregationists in the south dug [man in blizzard]

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in their heels. segregationist said the highest court in the land is saying were

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violating the Constitution and Shaw why do we have to listen to them? meanwhile

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the federal government wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to make them comply

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with the Supreme Court's decision. President Eisenhower claimed it wasn't

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the place of the federal government of force states to do stuff. and so while

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some integration had happened in border states, by 1956 not a single black

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student had been integrated into white schools in the deep south, blocking any

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and all progress in the south where the newly formed Citizens Council that took

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the form of a legitimized political offshoot of the KKK. they preferred a

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less violent approach to intimidation and punishment of blacks and they made [crowd holding signs]

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sure that blacks who didn't fall into line with the principles of white

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supremacy found themselves unemployed unable to get loans left without

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insurance or unable to pay their mortgages. it was economic blackmail at

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its finest . interestingly the struggle that caught the nation's attention and

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became the poster child for the fight for integration came out of Arkansas.

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which was actually relatively Pro integration. just days after the Supreme

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Court decreed that separate-but-equal needed to hit the road in the realm of

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public schools Arkansas pledged its commitment to integration. well done [separate but equal hits the road]

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there Arkansas. and we'll be sending you an edible arrangement soon. the state had

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already integrated the majority of its higher education universities as well as

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public services such as buses and libraries . in 1957 and the Arkansas

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branch of the NAACP approached nine black students and set out to begin

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the road to integration of Arkansas's public school system. well these famous

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students later known as the Little Rock Nine, kinda sounds like that group of

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superheroes, enrolled at Central High School in Little Rock Arkansas. but

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things didn't go so smoothly for the Little Rock Nine. [high school pictured]

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by not so smoothly we mean they were greeted at the school by an angry white

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mob. and no the mob was not there to cheer on the Little Rock Nine. fun when

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his history ever been nice and simple. things got worse when the Arkansas

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National Guard was called out by Arkansas governor Orval Faubus who was

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probably angry that he had to go through life with such a terrible name. when the

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guard blocked the nines entrance the NAACP along with the help of

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Thurgood Marshall swept in like the Avengers. it when a court injunction that

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prevented the governor from legally blocking the entrance to the students. [newspaper with headlines about segregation]

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with the help of a police escort the students entered the school but snuck

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out a side exit early for fear of violence. well initially Faubus claims

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that his use of the National Guard was an attempt to prevent the violence he

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knew would occur with this forced integration. when it became clear that

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Foubus was not going to play nice dr. Martin Luther King jr. sent a message to

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President Eisenhower pleading for federal aid. Eisenhower set up a meeting [ Dr. King pictured]

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with Faubus where Faubus was all like back buddy

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I'm only trying to protect these nice young people from the angry mob. well

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this of course turned out to be a big fat lie. Eisenhower directed the governor

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to admit the students but keep the National Guard there to keep the peace.

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instead of doing that Faubus through the nine to the wolves.

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he pulled the troops leaving them at the mercy of the mob. well before long there

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was an all-out riot in Little Rock, and governor Faubus didn't lift a finger to

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stop it. like still hemmed and hawed for a bit

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but after pressure from Arkansas congressman Brooks Hays and Little Rock [man stabs knife into wood around fingers]

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mayor Woodrow Mann the Prez finally decided he had to do something. states

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might have rights but they don't have the right to be total jerks.

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well Eisenhower put the National Guard under federal control and ordered a

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thousand troops with the Little Rock to restore order and to protect the

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students. well the troops stayed for the entire

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school year allowing the nine students to complete the year unharmed. that

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wasn't the end of the battle over integration in Arkansas though. the

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following year Governor Faubus closed all public high schools in Little Rock

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to avoid carrying out integration. move that son called the Faubus strikes [Arkansas governor pictured]

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back. and buy some we mean us call it that. a year later the schools were

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reopened by court order ending the massive resistance effort in Arkansas.

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yep the deep south from South Carolina to Louisiana still put up a fight

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against integration but it had now been established that the federal government

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was willing to enforce integration at gunpoint if necessary.

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Faubus probably cried into his pillow a bit and the hashtag sorry not sorry has

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never been you know more appropriate. [Faubus cries in bed]

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