The Little Rock Integration Crisis Nearly a century after the conclusion of the civil war, our nation was still not united. However, no longer was tension between the north and south threatening the welfare of our country, but instead the segregation of African-Americans. A primary goal in the civil war was abolishing slavery and although that was accomplished, many believed that blacks were hardly better off. However, a sense that change was necessary had swept across the United States. The desegregation movement was just beginning and the effects of the Little Rock Integration Crisis was one of the earliest stepping stones leading towards a united nation; this event helped set new standards of integration, while setting an example to the rest of the world that old forms of segregation would no longer be accepted.In the early 1950’s, racial segregation was widely accepted across the nation. It was believed that this would create a better learning atmosphere for white students. Although all school districts across cities and states were supposed to be equal, facilities, teachers, and school conditions were far superior in white schools than black schools. This system was feebly challenged until 1951. In Topeka, Kansas, Oliver Brown attempted to enroll his third-grade daughter to an all white school. Oliver’s daughter had to walk more than a mile to her all black school, while the white school was merely seven blocks from their home. Although denied enrollment, Brown appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. In the precedent-setting trial of Brown vs. the Board of Education, Chief Justice Earl Warren declared that the Supreme Court had ruled in favor of Oliver Brown – no longer would segregation be permitted.Brown vs. the Board of Education was the catalyst to the Little Rock Integration Crisis. After the decision, the Little Rock school board accepted the fact that it had to integrate black and white chi...
