NYT: Federal Supervision of Race in Little Rock Schools Ends

[DeepModem Mom]

Federal Supervision of Race in Little Rock Schools Ends
By STEVE BARNES
Published: February 24, 2007


(Associated Press)
National Guard troops were present on Oct. 15, 1957, as black students were escorted to the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. Only Friday was the school district released from federal supervision.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Feb. 23 — The Little Rock School District was released on Friday from federal court supervision of its desegregation efforts, almost 50 years after President Dwight D. Eisenhower dispatched federal troops to enforce an integration order that the Arkansas governor defied.

In a written order, Judge William R. Wilson Jr. of Federal District Court declared the district “unitary.” That meant it had met its obligations under court-ordered remedies to address lingering questions about its commitment to equal opportunity in education.

Judge Wilson said the school board could “now operate the district as it sees fit, answerable to no one” save its students, patrons and voters....

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In 1957, Gov. Orval E. Faubus, a conservative Democrat, resisted the federal court order to desegregate Central High School by surrounding it with National Guardsmen who blocked the entry of nine black students. Eisenhower responded by federalizing the Guard troops and sending paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division.

The black pupils were admitted to classes, with the military providing security on campus for the duration of the school year.

The confrontation was a seminal part of the civil rights movement....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/24/education/24deseg.html