A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School

These chapters cover the violent fight against integration that plague LaNier’s sophomore and junior years at Central. The response of white Little Rock citizens to integration demonstrates a sociological concept called “backlash.” Backlash is a counter-reaction by systemically privileged groups against social progress or additional rights given to marginalized groups. This can be seen in the mob violence, the treatment of the nine in school, and in Faubus’s extreme attempts to enforce segregation.

LaNier is shocked that the Little Rock she assumes is on “the other end of the spectrum” (40) from the type of racism that murdered Emmett Till is capable of the hate she witnesses while approaching Central for the first time. When she sees the crowd, she says,

There must be hundreds of people—white mothers with faces contorted in anger, white fathers pumping their fists in the air and shouting, white teenagers and children waving Confederate flags and mimicking their parents. Just who were these people? Were they the women who turned up their noses and murmured nasty words at Mother and me on the city bus? Were they the white customers I saw from time to time with Big Daddy at the meatpacking houses downtown? Were they my white neighbors? (70)

LaNier is in disbelief that the “raw anger” she sees outside Central can stem from the seemingly less violent instances of subtle racism she experiences daily. She realizes that violent hate is not unusual or exceptional: Rather, it can come from anyone, including the white parents of the children she used to play softball with. Further, she identifies the reason for this violence: fear “that integration could lead to race mixing and interracial marriage” (90). LaNier wonders if the mob “really [would] have lynched” the nine due to such fear (90). Because of these unfounded fears of imagined transgressions, the white crowd engages in their massive, violent backlash.

The anger of white adults is echoed by the white students of Central, who regularly abuse and attack the nine. In one instance, white students disseminated cards around the school that read: “GOOD ONLY UNTIL MAY 29, 1958 / BEARER MAY KICK RUMPS OF EACH CHS NEGRO ONCE PER DAY UNTIL ABOVE EXPIRATION DATE / LAST CHANCE, BOYS” (118). The school is shut down multiple times because dynamite and bomb parts are found in the lockers of white students. Even though the abuse is widespread, few offenders are punished: In the end, only four students are expelled for their behavior. LaNier gives up reporting instances of abuse, knowing nothing will happen to her abusers. The same is not true of any small transgression made by the Black students. In response to repeated attacks and abuses, Minnie pours chili on some boys attacking her and is suspended. When she returns, the attacks redouble: She is drenched in hot soup and attacked daily. She calls one of her attackers “white trash” (115) and is expelled as a result. These blatant double standards are often applied to marginalized people, who are held to unrealistic standards that their white counterparts are not.

This relentless abuse points to the theme of The Pressure of Being “The First.” Beyond the overt abuse, LaNier addresses the pain and hurt of seeing her white neighbors screaming at her. The students also must cope with the pressure of keeping silent about how they are treated. LaNier reports that in school, there was no recourse for her if she were to report the abuse, which effectively pressures her to keep quiet. The demand for silence extends to the accounts the students provide to the media. The nine know they are being held up as examples, so they put on a brave face when discussing their experiences at school, omitting details of the torment and abuse they face daily. The pressure also extends to the families of the Little Rock Nine, who face reprisals at work, threats to their livelihood, and fears of physical violence against them and their loved ones. Given these challenges, it’s understandable why LaNier tried so hard to forget about being a part of the Little Rock Nine and avoided discussing it for many years.

This backlash is egged on by Faubus, the then governor. He is a prototypical example of how backlash makes governmental figures more ideological, in this case, conservative. LaNier’s parents previously supported Faubus and voted for him twice. He was not a segregationist, and they called him “a man of the people” (64). However, when theoretical integration becomes a reality, Faubus stokes fear of violence to exasperate the white mob. He deploys the Arkansas National Guard to keep the nine out of school, even though Eisenhower and the US Supreme Court give multiple orders to stand down. He fights in the courts to reimplement segregation throughout LaNier’s first year at Central and uses media propaganda to disseminate the idea that integration is a failure.

The determination of President Eisenhower to integrate Central illustrates the Necessity of Educational Integration. He understands that importance of progressing the nation forward in this regard, upholding the rule of law, and providing military assistance to support integration. In the United States, states’ rights are sacrosanct. However, in the overturning of segregation by the Supreme Court, the rights of citizens, as defined by the 14th Amendment, are given precedence over any state laws that would deny those rights. Thus, in the view of President Eisenhower, it is appropriate and necessary to ensure that Central High School—which had become a symbol of resistance to integration nationwide—be integrated, even if military assistance is needed to accomplish that goal. However, the integration of Central doesn’t spare the Little Rock Nine from the Pain of Educational Integration. All year, they are subjected to horrific emotional, physical, and psychological abuse, and as with LaNier, they must relive these memories for the rest of their lives.

Hours after the Supreme Court overturns his appeal to halt integration, Faubus signs anti-integration bills that “gave him extraordinary powers over the school system” (142). He uses this power to “shut down all three public high schools in Little Rock” (142), leaving almost 4,000 high schoolers educationless. On the surface, Faubus’s decision implies that he would rather no children have an education than allow Black children equal education. However, this move is calculated to disproportionately affect Black students. Faubus lends the public schools to segregationist private schools that only accept white students. Due to income inequality and disparities in generational wealth brought on by the legacy of enslavement, Little Rock’s white families can more easily afford to send their children to these schools or other states. Of the 675 students who remained without any education, the majority were Black (145). LaNier herself spends large segments of the year unenrolled and must enroll in summer school to advance to her senior year.

During the upheaval of the school year, LaNier again experiences The Collective Care of the Black Community. Most visibly, this comes from Mrs. Bates, who arranges protection from local pastors on the first day of school: The group surrounds the students and gets them to the door safely. During the period when the students are again shut out from school, Mr. and Mrs. Bates open their home, becoming “trusted guardians” of the students. Mrs. Bates obtains the students' homework from their teachers so they do not fall too far behind in their extended absence. With her protection, care, and oversight, Mrs. Bates represents the care of the entire Black community for the Little Rock Nine and all the Black children facing pervasive racism and inadequate resources in Arkansas and elsewhere.