The 50th Anniversary of the Little Rock Nine

[Joesocwork 4]

There is so much that could be said about them and how what they did mattered, but I'll say that their quiet bravery helped positively change how people looked at freedom for generations to come.           

Little Rock Nine mark 50th anniversary (AP)

[Micah 16]

Truly an incredible event in our nation's history.

Btw, are *the Nine still alive?

Edit: all of*

[DOXXP29 5]

Some of them are, Marc, though I dont know how many. I was watching a show about this last night and a few of them were interviewed.

One of the oft repeated statements of this program was that although the school is integrated, in many ways, nothing has really changed. Segregation still exists within the school, especially as seen in students behaviour. Blacks line up and eat with blacks, whites with whites in the cafeteria, groups exist (they went out of their way to not call them gangs) that are divided along racial lines, and classroom racial tension exists. The neighbourhoods are still segregated for the most part and, generations later, white parents still refuse to send their kids to public school because of integration.

Look at the Jena Six. Fifty years later, this is a school snapshot of the south vis a vis students and racial attitudes. (I'm not saying this is an indictment of the entire south, but it IS a relevant example of what is happening today.

I personally can't see what the problem is with people of any race getting hung up on colour. Racial prejudice is so unecessary and illogical. However, there are powers that be with social and political agendas on all sides that fan the flames and do what they can to keep the issue and the division alive. Maybe one day things truly will change. Until then, my hat is off to those like the Little Rock Nine for being at the front lines of the battle.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Originally posted by: DOXXP29 Some of them are, Marc, though I dont know how many. I was watching a show about this last night and a few of them were interviewed.

One of the oft repeated statements of this program was that although the school is integrated, in many ways, nothing has really changed. Segregation still exists within the school, especially as seen in students behaviour. Blacks line up and eat with blacks, whites with whites in the cafeteria, groups exist (they went out of their way to not call them gangs) that are divided along racial lines, and classroom racial tension exists. The neighbourhoods are still segregated for the most part and, generations later, white parents still refuse to send their kids to public school because of integration.

Look at the Jena Six. Fifty years later, this is a school snapshot of the south vis a vis students and racial attitudes. (I'm not saying this is an indictment of the entire south, but it IS a relevant example of what is happening today.

I personally can't see what the problem is with people of any race getting hung up on colour. Racial prejudice is so unecessary and illogical. However, there are powers that be with social and political agendas on all sides that fan the flames and do what they can to keep the issue and the division alive. Maybe one day things truly will change. Until then, my hat is off to those like the Little Rock Nine for being at the front lines of the battle.quote>

 

Racisim/Intolerance is a learned thing. But you will never get anyone to admit they raise thier kids to hate others,But someone is other wise it would die out.

[ShortStraw 1]

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

Originally posted by: DOXXP29 Some of them are, Marc, though I dont know how many. I was watching a show about this last night and a few of them were interviewed.

One of the oft repeated statements of this program was that although the school is integrated, in many ways, nothing has really changed. Segregation still exists within the school, especially as seen in students behaviour. Blacks line up and eat with blacks, whites with whites in the cafeteria, groups exist (they went out of their way to not call them gangs) that are divided along racial lines, and classroom racial tension exists. The neighbourhoods are still segregated for the most part and, generations later, white parents still refuse to send their kids to public school because of integration.

Look at the Jena Six. Fifty years later, this is a school snapshot of the south vis a vis students and racial attitudes. (I'm not saying this is an indictment of the entire south, but it IS a relevant example of what is happening today.

I personally can't see what the problem is with people of any race getting hung up on colour. Racial prejudice is so unecessary and illogical. However, there are powers that be with social and political agendas on all sides that fan the flames and do what they can to keep the issue and the division alive. Maybe one day things truly will change. Until then, my hat is off to those like the Little Rock Nine for being at the front lines of the battle.quote>

 

Racisim/Intolerance is a learned thing. But you will never get anyone to admit they raise thier kids to hate others,But someone is other wise it would die out.

quote>

I think it is dying out.  Albeit, very slowly.

I've lived most of my life in the south (U.S.) and much of it in rural towns and it looks to me as though each generation is more integrated and less racially biased than the one before.  At least in the case of black and white people.  I know I'm more racially tolerant than my parents and they were less racist than their parents, my teenage child is less racist than I am and so forth.

I actually have known people who pay to send their kids to all white private schools just because they're "all white".  But I know fewer now than I did 20 years ago and most of the people I know today send their kids to public schools with no regard for the "race ratio" of the student body.  All of the segregation I see between blacks and whites these days is self imposed, in public schools and in town neighborhoods.  Black people and white people segregate themselves but I don't think it's so much because they hate each other as just because "birds of a feather flock together" and all that.   The important thing is, thanks to people like the Little Rock 9, people can freely  integrate  wherever they choose to do so.

All that said, racism is a huge and pervasive issue here.  I think there are very few people intentionally raising their children to be racists but a lot of us do it inadvertently in small ways we never really realize (or realize too late to fix).  For the most part, I think that's getting better with each generation as well.  I don't know if there will ever be true racial harmony between black and white people in America but I know we're closer to it now than we were 50 years ago and I think it is an entirely possible goal to strive for.

[DOXXP29 5]

Agreed, ShortStraw. It does seem to be getting better generation by generation. And you're quite right about the "birds of a feather" behaviour. I think that's human nature more often than not and isn't necessarily indicative of racism. 

Like you, I know some people (white) who send their kids to private schools because of the race factor. They, of course, claim it's because of the superior quality of education. (No argument there.) But what blows their cover is when the private schools start becoming more integrated and these same people then start complaining about the school and look to send their kids to a less integrated school. Examples like this show me that racism is still pervasive, but less overt. (To quote a friend of mine speaking to a closet racist: "You may not SAY the n-word, but you sure do THINK it a lot!")

 

And you're absolutely right, EasyBakes. Racism IS learned behaviour. But I don't think it's just the parents fostering racism. It's all around in many forms. Peer pressure in school. Some of the more vocal or radical groups who may influence stereotypical thinking. The media can do this too, sometimes by trying to accomplish the exact opposite. Many people take exception to having an ideology "forced" upon them and will often react in a manner that is contrary to the message. (As an example, "affirmative action" in many cases fostered  racism due to resentment among whites even though it was a program designed to combat racism.) But the learned behaviour theory is well illustrated by the fact that young children (too young to have been influenced by racial prejudices) when put in a group of mixed ethnicities will interact with others of all races. Whites don't seek out white kids, blacks don't seek out black kids, etc. They just see fellow human beings (and maybe their toys!), not skin colour. If only this behaviour would continue throughout their lives...

The sad part is, even though we may be able to overcome racial prejudices on a personal level, society, as a whole, still exhibits prejudices and stereotypes. We may have progressed since the Little Rock Nine and the civil rights movement of the '60's, but equality is still a subjective term. Maybe one day we can all just get along...

EDIT: Marc, I just saw on the news that all nine are still alive. They gathered together for a reunion in Little Rock.