从19世纪70年代到60年代初的四分之三世纪里, Jim Crow laws would turn the United States into a divided nation separated by race. 结果是, African Americans would be forced to use “separate but equal services” which were oftentimes worse than those used by the white populace. 然而, 反对吉姆·克劳法的运动日益高涨, with the Supreme Court unanimously voting in favour of school desegregation through the Brown v. 教育委员会案. 结果是, many African American students around the country prepared to enrol in white schools, 包括1957年的欧内斯特·格林, 结果却遭遇了巨大的阻力. The 国立历史BTT365 (NHA) was pleased to have Green speak to the students of the Summer Residential 程序me on July 26th as context for the programme’s MLK Case Study. His talk about Little Rock Central High School during his time of attendance was stellar, 虽然他的故事显然不止这些. 因此, 在相机的闪光灯熄灭之后, 我和格林坐下来聊聊他的个人经历. What he told me would be an emotional albeit sobering recount of his experiences at Little Rock.
The stories of 欧内斯特•格林 and the remaining members of the Little Rock Nine have become ingrained into the minds of most Americans, given that the Nine’s attendance at Little Rock Central High School forms part of the 历史 curriculum in most states. Oftentimes the violence directed towards them is portrayed to only be happening outside the campus, so after the school doors closed behind their police escorts many forget the cold hard reality of life in a segregated school system. 因此，我问格林学校的环境是怎样的. 从一开始, the mood would be described by Green as “hostile” with students handing out cards and pamphlets decrying the school’s acceptance of the Nine. Harassment was constant outside the classroom, with students often physically challenging the Nine. 这其中也包括了Minnijean Brown的事件, 又是九神之一，她对别人对她的指示做出了反应, 结果却被学校开除了. Fortunately Green explained that “she was able to continue her education in New York”. 有趣的是, 在教室里, 很大一部分的敌意消失了, which according to Green wasn’t due to any change of heart but due to “how hard the courses were for everybody”. 事实上, the hardness of the courses offered was one of the main reasons Green moved to Little Rock Central High School, 尤其是因为“提供了更多的科学和技术课程”。. These aforementioned courses would prove to be extremely helpful as it would give him the foundations required to pursue Business and Finance courses at Michigan University. His University diplomas would in themselves then set him up for his role as Assistant Secretary of Labour under the Carter Administration, showing how his ambition in pursuing a good high school foundation allowed him to reach “far further than he ever would imagine”. Green himself explained the importance of this as he views education as a means of further knitting people closer together. 事实上 he stated that education institutions should strive to be as diverse as possible because “multiethnic schools are not a liability, 而是一种资产。”.
而学生们, 在很多方面, 独自面对歧视, it is also important to remember that the students also had the assistance of armed guards. When I asked Green if the presence of guards gave reassurance, he gave a resounding “yes”. 有趣的是，现任总统德怀特. Eisenhower had chosen the paratrooping regiment who had freed the first Nazi concentration camps as the student’s escorts. 作为艾森豪威尔的司法部长, 威廉·罗杰斯后来回忆道, he felt the decision was necessary due to “concern for 9 teenagers’ safety from a group of people who could sympathise based on what they had previously seen”. 当然, the African American community also had a significant role in convincing President Eisonhower to keep the students safe. Green recounts that this includes a woman by the name of Daisy Bates who rallied in front of the confrontational crowd outside to show solidarity. Bates also convinced Louis Armstrong to delay his goodwill trip to the USSR so that he could watch Green go to school. 贝茨的遗产今天仍然可见, 学校前面的路被命名为黛西·贝茨大道. The decision to use the specific group of parachutists also was a political tactic on Eisenhower’s behalf, which sent a subtle albeit powerful message to the Southern politicians such as Woodrow Wilson Mann, 小石城市长. President Eisenhower’s boldness to assert federal power over local state pressures would mean that the protests against the Nine’s attendance eventually diminished. 即使在今天, the story of the President’s involvement in the safety of the Nine is still a golden standard in the history of the United States. 事实上，格林明确表示，约翰·F·肯尼迪总统后来的尝试. Kennedy to enrol African American student James Meredith at Ole Miss were less successful as Kennedy had tried to make “both sides look as good as possible”. That was a decision that would fate September 30th 1962 as Ole Miss’s bloodiest day. As Meredith was being enrolled, the crowd opened fire which resulted in the deaths of two people. Green used Meredith’s enrollment as an example of how ineffective Federal power could be detrimental, 这与暑期住宿计划最早的案例研究有关 联邦的负面影响 which explored the moral and practical implications of increased control from DC. 不管人们站在联邦权力的哪一边, 欧内斯特·格林表现出了勇气和决心，这一点是绝对正确的, and will forever be ingrained in the story of America’s struggle for Civil Rights.