"You cannot be afraid to speak up and speak out for what you believe in. You must have courage, raw courage." John Lewis
Racial discrimination has been around for centuries. In the Brown v. Board of Education lawsuit, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public education was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. As school districts discovered ways to counter this ruling, Little Rock Central High became the worldwide emblem of resistance to integration.
Despite the resistance, nine students registered to be the first African Americans to attend Central High School. As they arrived for their first day of school on September 4, 1957, they were prevented from entering by the Arkansas National Guard and were surrounded by hostile, screaming white students and adults. These conditions resulted in The Nine not attending a full day of school until September 25. They endured crude harassment and violence throughout the end of the year. As the school year came to an end, on May 25, 1958, Ernest Green, the only senior among the Little Rock Nine, became the first African-American to graduate from Central High School.