Almost fifty years have passed since the U. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, that laws separating the races in school are unconstitutional. Hundreds of lawsuits later, black and white students were bused back and forth to desegregated schools in cities across the United States. Where does the fate of desegregation stand now? Has the fight for equal opportunities in education been successful? What other factors contribute to the success or failure of minorities in regards to learning? What is needed to improve the current educational system so that all Americans have an equal opportunity for education? .
Of course, the Brown decision did not miraculously desegregate schools. It has been a long hard battle with much resistance. Little Rock Central High School was to begin the 1957 school year desegregated. On September 2, the night before the first day of school, Governor Faubus announced that he had ordered the Arkansas National Guard to monitor the school the next day. When a group of nine black students arrived at Central High on September 3, they were barred from entering by the National Guardsmen. On September 20, Judge Davies granted an injunction against Governor Faubus and three days later the group of nine students returned to Central High School. Although the students were not physically injured, a mob of 1,000 townspeople prevented them from remaining at school. Finally, President Eisenhower ordered 1,000 paratroopers and 10,000 National Guardsmen to Little Rock, and on September 25, Central High School was desegregated. Then in September 1958 Governor Faubus closed all the public high schools in Little Rock in what the Supreme Court called an "evasive scheme" to prevent integration. The schools did not reopen until August of 1959 (Hampton 35-52). Stories such as this are repeated over and over in the history of the civil rights movement in the United States:.
