Orval Faubus

ACTIVITY 4 INSTRUCTIONS:
Read the article below. On a piece of paper, respond to the following question:

Describe the crisis that was the "defining moment" of Orval Faubus' career. What is his goal compared to President Eisenhower?

Read the quote from Faubus following the Little Rock Nine incident.

In your opinion, to what extent should majority rule? In what instances should the minority opinion be protected?

Read the poem from a Faubus supporter.

What does the supporter suggest Faubus do? Use textual evidence to support your claims.
What does the supporter believe the "true negro" should do?

Watch the video of the two girls from the Little Rock Nine incident.

Why do you suppose these photos made national headlines?

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Article

The defining moment of his political life was a constitutional crisis over school desegregation. The Little Rock School Board made cautious plans to place the first black pupils in all-white Central High School in September 1957, three years after the Supreme Court had ruled segregated schools unconstitutional. A federal district court endorsed the board’s plans. But growing resistance by segregationists caught the attention of Faubus. He was known as a racial moderate. He calculated, however, that a moderate would stand small chance of reelection in 1958 against a determined white supremacist.

On September 2, 1957, Faubus called out the National Guard to block the admission of nine black pupils to Central High School. His justification was that violence threatened and he had to preserve the peace. A federal judge ordered the guardsmen removed. The students, known as the Little Rock Nine, returned to the school but were met by a mob of enraged segregationists. The local police, unable to control the crowd, spirited the Nine out of the building. President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the National Guard and dispatched Army troops to restore order and enforce the court’s ruling. The troops stayed through the school year. Little Rock voted to close its high schools the following year in a vain attempt to thwart further integration. Then, stung by bad publicity and facing economic decline, the city voted to reopen them with token integration.

Faubus lost the battle with Eisenhower, but his actions ensured his election as governor four more times."

Reed, Roy. "Orval Eugene Faubus (1910-1994) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas." University of Arkansas Press: Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, 22 Sept. 2011. Web. 18 Dec. 2013. <http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=102>.

Quote from Faubus

Faubus gave a speech less than a month after the Little Rock Nine were integrated. He said:
"Does the will of the people, that basic precept of democracy, no longer matter?
Must the will of majority now yield, under federal force, to the will of the minority regardless of the consequences?
If the answers to these questions are in the affirmative, then the basic principles of democracy are destroyed."

Read the poem written by a supporter of Faubus.

Poem for faubus

Little rock nine video and photos

Hazel Brian was a white student at Little Rock High School when it was integrated. She is pictured in the photo below-- yelling at the black student in front of her. Then watch the video below of a Yale historian discussing his book written about these two women.

Hazel Brian harassing Elizabeth Eckford at Little Rock Central School in 1957.

In front of Little Rock Central School in 1997-- 40 years later.