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Eyes on the Prize S01E02 Fighting Back, 1957 1962 — Transcript

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0:00[Music]
0:01Major funding for American Experience is
0:04provided by the Alfred Peaceloan
0:06Foundation. National corporate funding
0:08is provided by Liberty Mutual and the
0:11Scots Company. American Experience is
0:14also made possible by the Corporation
0:16for Public Broadcasting and by public
0:18television viewers.
0:22Funding for the re-release of Eyes on
0:24the Prize made possible by the Ford
0:27Foundation and the Gilder Foundation.
0:39In 1954, the Supreme Court said black
0:42children would go to school with white.
0:45The South said never.
0:50[Music]
0:54In the name of God whom we all revert.
0:59In the name of liberty we hold so dear.
1:04In the name of decency which we all
1:07cherish.
1:08What is happening in America?
1:18Was this the start of a new civil war?
1:23>> I know the one thing we did right was
1:27the day we started to fight. Keep your
1:31eyes on the prize. Hold on. Hold on.
1:37>> Keep your eyes on the prize. Hold on.
1:44The segregation is against the Bible. I
1:47find my scripture for this in Genesis
1:509:27 where God did segregate and
1:53separate the three sons of Noah, sending
1:55one out to be a servant while the other
1:57two remained in the tabernacle. I say
1:59that God has given nowhere in his Bible
2:01any right to men to end the curse that
2:03he's placed upon any human place.
2:06All the people of the South are in favor
2:09of segregation and Supreme Court or no
2:13Supreme Court, we are going to maintain
2:16segregated schools down in Dixie.
2:19>> It wasn't funny then. It's still not
2:21funny. But suddenly we we have the 14th
2:24amendment that took a hundred years
2:27brought on by the civil war suddenly
2:30must be complied with equal treatment
2:34under the law
2:37and that was the resistance. They are
2:39not going to get equal treatment. What
2:42do you mean
2:46gold school with my little darling?
2:50That is why resistance.
2:55>> In the late 1950s, the battle for civil
2:57rights was fought in the classrooms of
2:59the South.
3:00The Supreme Court had ruled in a case
3:02called Brown versus Board of Education
3:04that segregated schools were
3:06unconstitutional under the 14th
3:07Amendment. Many Southerners saw the
3:10decision as an attack on their heritage
3:11and traditions.
3:14The battle lines were drawn.
3:18I think we were not really quite
3:21prepared for the extent to which the
3:25South would resist the implementation of
3:28the Brown decision. In fact, uh the um
3:32shutting down of the NAACP
3:35in Alabama, the resistance evidenced in
3:39places like Virginia and Arkansas, the
3:42legislative investigations committees in
3:45Florida and in other states really um
3:48frightened us.
3:51>> And the white resistance could also be
3:52violent. In February 1956, a black woman
3:56named Authorne Lucy was quietly admitted
3:58to the all-white University of Alabama.
4:01But the night after she arrived,
4:03students and towns people began a riot.
4:09[Applause]
4:15The university suspended Lucy
4:16temporarily, it said, for her own
4:18protection, and Arthurine Lucy sued,
4:21claiming that mob rule was being allowed
4:23to overturn the law.
4:26What brought about these actions, I
4:29feel, is that um lawless elements
4:33outside the campus set themselves over
4:35and above the law. Their actions brought
4:39great discredit to our nation. The
4:41charge has been made and made by some
4:43fairly moderate people, uh, gradualists
4:46you might call them, that the NAACP, the
4:49general counsel you are, is moving too
4:51far, too fast. That following the
4:53decision of the Supreme Court, you would
4:55have been well advised to uh to let
4:58things move along gradually for a while.
4:59That you can't overthrow the prejudices
5:01of 300 years overnight.
5:03>> You can't, but maybe you can't override
5:07prejudice overnight. But the
5:09Emancipation Proclamation was issued in
5:1219 in 18
5:1463
5:1590 odd years ago.
5:18I believe in gradualism. I also believe
5:21that 90 odd years is pretty gradual.
5:25Arthurine Lucy won her case, but the
5:28board of trustees expelled her anyway
5:30for saying the university had used the
5:32riots to keep her out.
5:39Across the South, the Lucy case gave
5:41resisting whites hope. If they were
5:43willing to use violence to fight the
5:45law, it seemed they could keep black
5:47children in black schools.
5:54And it seemed the federal government
5:56would not step in. After the riots, the
5:58president spoke only of extremists on
6:00both sides. He worried like much of the
6:03country about moving too fast on school
6:05integration.
6:07>> I personally believe if you try to go
6:10too far too fast in laws in this
6:13delicate field that has involved the
6:16emotions of so many millions of
6:18Americans, you're making a mistake. I
6:20believe we've got to have laws that go
6:23along with education and understanding.
6:25And I believe you go beyond that at any
6:27one time, you'd cause trouble rather
6:30than than benefit.
6:33>> It was over a year before the black
6:35community would find its chance to fight
6:37back here in Little Rock, Arkansas,
6:391957.
6:42Little Rock was a moderate southern city
6:44in a moderate southern state. By 1956,
6:49both the state universities and the city
6:50buses were integrated.
6:53Its school board made plans to
6:54desegregate slowly.
6:58The first year, 1957, nine black
7:01teenagers would attend one school,
7:02Central High. Little Rock's black
7:04leaders were hopeful.
7:08>> We have a very enlightened group of
7:11people in Arkansas
7:14and uh they have accepted everything
7:17else. They accepted bus integration
7:19without any fanfare
7:21and they are they will take the school
7:24integration
7:26as just another going to school.
7:29>> The black children were not getting a
7:31chance and they needed it. They needed
7:33it as more than anyone. And we were very
7:36strongly in favor of that and and could
7:38see that integration would improve that.
7:41But we did uh at that stage have fears
7:44and they were I guess just natural
7:46inborn emotional fears. And so we needed
7:51some help from the officials, the the
7:54state officials, the county, the city
7:57officials, and primarily from Governor
8:00Fbus as to what he told the people
8:04whether it was the law or not.
8:07One of the reasons
8:08>> Governor Orville Thbas of Arkansas was a
8:11moderate by southern standards, a man
8:13the black community had supported. But
8:15in his last election, he'd faced tough
8:17opponents, and he knew he'd need the
8:19segregationist vote if he wanted to be
8:20reelected.
8:22[Music]
8:25>> The night before school opened, Fbus
8:27made a decision on an integrated basis.
8:30I have therefore in accordance with the
8:33solemn responsibilities and the oath of
8:36my office taken the following action.
8:41Units of the National Guard have been
8:44and are now being mobilized with the
8:47mission to maintain or restore the peace
8:50and good order of this community.
8:53Advanced units are already on duty on
8:57the grounds of Central High School.
9:01>> The Arkansas National Guard ringed the
9:03school with orders to admit only the
9:05white students. It shocked the country.
9:09State troops were now being used to
9:11prevent enforcement of federal law.
9:17At the center of the crisis were these
9:19nine teenagers selected by the school
9:21board because of their excellent grades.
9:24>> The first day, eight of the nine went to
9:27school together, accompanied by their
9:29parents and ministers. They expected
9:31some harassment, but no real trouble.
9:40You could cut it with a knife. attention
9:42outside the school with these people who
9:44had come in from other parts of the
9:46state, uh, other states. Um, there were
9:50license plates from all other states
9:52that were there, people who had come in
9:54and were outside our school.
9:59>> The eight children and the adults with
10:01them were turned away by the National
10:03Guard.
10:05[Music]
10:13The ninth student, Elizabeth Ecford, had
10:16missed the call to gather with the
10:17others before school. Elizabeth Ecford
10:20walked alone and met a mob.
10:25[Applause]
10:38[Applause]
10:44Can you tell me your name, please?
10:47>> Are you going to go to school here at uh
10:49Central High? You don't care to say
10:52anything? Is that right?
10:57This girl here was the first negro
11:00apparently of high school age to show up
11:04at Central High School the day that the
11:05federal court ordered it integrated. She
11:07was followed in front of the school by
11:09an angry crowd, many of them shouting
11:12epithets at her.
11:14>> Well, it has to be the most frightening
11:15thing. I mean, because she had a crowd
11:19of white people behind her threatening
11:21to uh to kill her.
11:24She had nobody. I mean, there was not a
11:27black face in sight anywhere.
11:29Uh, nobody that she could turn to as a
11:32friend except that this woman came out
11:34of the crowd and guided her through the
11:37mob and onto the bus and got her home
11:40safely.
11:42[Applause]
11:56The Black Parents and the NAACP went
11:58back to court. The leader of the state
12:00organization, Daisy Bates, became the
12:03students strongest supporter.
12:06The National NAACP saw this case as a
12:09showdown for desegregation and they
12:11assisted the local lawyers. Well, we
12:13consider this case important as one of
12:15the segregation cases, but in addition
12:18to the fact that this one involves the
12:20appearance of the National Guard on the
12:22scene and for the first time in any of
12:25our cases, it's the action of the
12:26governor that eventually will have to be
12:29brought in across then you see it as a
12:32state federal conflict of authority.
12:34>> Well, I don't think there's any question
12:35about that.
12:37>> The question was whether the federal
12:38government would assert its authority.
12:41The pressure on the president increased.
12:44Defiance of federal law seemed to be
12:45spreading from Little Rock here to North
12:48Little Rock to Nashville, Tennessee and
12:51to Charlotte, North Carolina.
12:58[Music]
13:00>> Some people blamed Eisenhower for this
13:02resistance, saying his lack of
13:04leadership on civil rights discouraged
13:06the extremists.
13:09President Eisenhower's position was that
13:11he was the president of all the people.
13:14He felt that his role was to talk to the
13:16moderates uh throughout the the country
13:20including the southern states.
13:23He felt that and was was told by many
13:27adviserss that Governor Fabus could be
13:31reasoned with and that a an amicable
13:35solution uh could be found in the Little
13:38Rock crisis.
13:43>> In midepptember, the president and the
13:45governor had a meeting at Eisenhower's
13:47vacation home in Newport, Rhode Island.
13:54The president thought that he had
13:56persuaded Governor Fabas to go back and
13:59allow the black children to enter the
14:02high school peaceibly.
14:04Uh and
14:06it was quite a surprise to him. He felt
14:09let down when Governor Fabus decided
14:12against allowing the black children to
14:14enter the high school.
14:17Eisenhower had convinced Fobbus that
14:19ultimately the state could not resist
14:21federal authority.
14:23>> Fobas changed his tactic. He simply
14:26removed the National Guard, leaving only
14:28city police in an explosive situation as
14:32the Little Rock Nine entered Central
14:33High School.
14:35[Applause]
14:38>> We entered the side of the building,
14:42thousands of people out front. And we
14:44were entering the site and I could just
14:45get a glimpse of this group and on the
14:48car I could hear on the car radio I
14:50could hear that there was a mob and I
14:52knew what a mob meant and I knew that
14:54the sounds that came for the crowd were
14:57very angry. So we entered the side of
14:59the building very very fast. We've just
15:02got a report here on this end that the
15:04students are in.
15:07They're trying to turn the TV down that
15:10way. Down there. You can see from here
15:13some of the action occurring down there.
15:20[Applause]
15:34The three of us represented the the uh
15:38black press. That was all. And uh we
15:41were on the mall in front of the school
15:44and uh the word got to the crowd outside
15:47that the [ __ ] are in the school.
15:50Then they they said to us, "Uh, you come
15:53out here as a decoy and then other
15:55people slipping into the side of this
15:57building."
15:59>> So, uh, I said, "Hell no." Like that.
16:01You see,
16:02>> the crowd turned on Hicks and on his
16:05companions, Moses Newsome and Alex
16:07Wilson.
16:09Somebody had a brick in his hand and
16:12instead of throwing the brick cuz he was
16:14too close, he hit Alex Wilson up beside
16:18his head with this brick.
16:21Of course, Wilson was more than 6 feet
16:23tall and ex-marine. He went down like uh
16:27uh a tree.
16:29>> The mob was getting past the wooden
16:31sawers because the policemen would no
16:32longer fight their own in order to keep
16:35to protect us. And so someone made a
16:38suggestion that if they allowed the mob
16:40to hang one kid, they could then get the
16:42rest out. And a gentleman whom I believe
16:45to be assistant chief of police said,
16:46"How you going to choose? You're going
16:47to let him draw straws?" He said, "I'll
16:50get them out." And we were taken to the
16:51basement of this place and we were put
16:54into two cars, grayish blue colored
16:56Fords. And the uh man instructed them,
16:59he said, "Once you start driving, do not
17:01stop."
17:04The rioting was headline news. The
17:07nation and the world saw unmistakably
17:09the face of resistance.
17:16Finally, President Eisenhower realized
17:18he had to act and he did quickly. That
17:22night, he sent in the paratroopers of
17:24the 101st Airborne Division.
17:27>> An extreme situation has been created in
17:29Little Rock. This challenge must be met
17:33and with such measures as will preserve
17:35to the people as a whole their lawfully
17:37protected rights. If resistance to the
17:40federal court order ceases at once, the
17:44further presence of federal troops will
17:46be unnecessary
17:48and a blot upon the fair name and high
17:50honor of our nation in the world will be
17:52removed.
17:54Mob rule can not be allowed to override
17:58the decisions of our courts.
18:04[Music]
18:12My fellow citizens,
18:14we are now an occupied territory.
18:20In the name of God whom we all revert
18:26in the name of liberty we hold so dear
18:30in the name of decency which we all
18:33cherish.
18:34What is happening in America?
18:43[Applause]
18:55We got into the Jeep uh into the station
18:57wagon rather and the convoy that went
19:00from Mrs. Bates house to the school that
19:01had a a jeep in front, a jeep behind.
19:04They both had machine gun mounts. Uh and
19:07then the whole school was ringing with
19:09paratroopers and helicopters hovering
19:11around and we wed up the steps with this
19:14circle of soldiers with bayonets drawn.
19:18I figured that we had really
19:20We had really gone into school that day
19:23and uh walking up the steps that day was
19:25probably one of the biggest feelings
19:28I've ever had. I figured I had finally
19:30cracked it.
19:32And there was a feeling of pride and
19:35hope that yes, this is the United
19:37States. Yes, there is a reason I salute
19:39the flag and it's it's going to be okay.
19:42You know, if these guys just go with us
19:44the first time, it's going to be okay.
19:46The troops did not, however, mean the
19:49end of harassment. It meant the
19:51declaration of war.
19:54>> Tell your mama, tell your pap, I'm going
19:57to send you back to Arkansas.
20:01>> It was the beginning of a school year
20:03like no other at Little Rock Central
20:05High.
20:06[Music]
20:10When we got in the school, they then
20:12assigned us an individual soldier to
20:15walk us from class to class. He waited
20:17outside the classroom and every time the
20:20bell rang and classes changed, he would
20:22walk us. We'd have our own personal God
20:24walking us to the next class.
20:26>> The troops were wonderful. If you know
20:29there was some fear that they were
20:30dating the girls in high school and I
20:32don't care what they were doing, they
20:33were they were wonderful. But they
20:35couldn't be with us everywhere. They
20:36couldn't be with us, for example, in the
20:38lady's bathroom. They couldn't be with
20:40us in gym. Um, you'd be walking out to
20:43the volleyball court and someone would
20:44break a bottle and trip you on the
20:46bottle. I have scars on my right knee
20:48from that.
20:55Of
21:00course, we couldn't have a normal
21:02school, but we had to have as close to
21:05normal as possible. And you couldn't
21:08follow every student around with a guard
21:11into the, you know, the stories were
21:13that the male guards were going to the
21:16restrooms with the female black
21:18students. And you couldn't do things
21:20like that. and you couldn't sit with
21:23them at the cafeteria. There wouldn't be
21:25any integration if you if you did that.
21:28So, I'm proud of what we did and what we
21:31didn't do.
21:32>> Would you think you could get used to
21:33going to school with colored children?
21:35>> Yes, sir. I think so. I mean, if I'm
21:37going to have to do it, I'm might as
21:39well get used to it.
21:40>> Well, now what about this? Do you think
21:42that the trouble is with the students
21:44here in the high school and in the
21:45schools of Little Rock? Or is it with
21:47the parents or is it without siders or
21:49where is the trouble?
21:50>> I think it's the parents. I mean I mean
21:53I saw you know all these crowds out here
21:55and men men kicking that negro and
21:57everything.
21:59>> And you don't sympathize with that sort
22:01of action at all?
22:02>> No sir, I don't.
22:03>> What do you think?
22:04>> Well, I think it was just downright
22:06unamerican and I think it was the most
22:08terrible thing that has ever been seen
22:09in America. I mean, yeah, I'm guess I'm
22:12founding patriotic or something like
22:14that, but I always thought that uh all
22:17men were created equal. And I began to
22:19change from being somebody who uh was
22:23considered myself a moderate who if I
22:26had my way would have said let's don't
22:28integrate because it's the state's right
22:30to decide to someone who uh felt a real
22:34sense of compassion for uh these
22:37students and uh felt like they deserved
22:40something that uh that I had and also
22:44developed a real dislike for the people
22:47that were out there that were causing
22:48the problems. It was very unsettling to
22:50me.
22:51>> I never had anything to do with any
22:53until we came here. I mean, we just they
22:55never lived well what you'd say close
22:57enough to us or we just never around
22:59them really.
23:00>> Isn't that part of what makes it
23:01difficult when you live 15 or 17 years
23:04of your life and then start doing
23:06something different all of a sudden?
23:07>> Well, I think like if a a Spanish or
23:10Chinese person came here, it wouldn't be
23:12hard to get along with them. It's just
23:14that the Negroes are what you might say
23:16more different to us. than a Spanish
23:18person might be.
23:20>> It's early morning here at 11:21 Cross
23:23Street in Little Rock and a new school
23:25day is dawning.
23:27>> Melba.
23:28>> Yes, mother.
23:29>> You'd better hurry or you're going to be
23:30late for school.
23:31>> Here I come.
23:32>> As usual, the girl in the family is
23:34running a little late. The girl is Melba
23:37Patillo, 15 years old.
23:39>> You know, I worried about silly things
23:41like keeping my saddle shoes straight.
23:43What am I going to wear today? the
23:44things that a 15-year-old girl does
23:45wear, but but also which part of the
23:47hall to walk in that's the safest. Who's
23:50going to hit me with what? Is it going
23:51to be hot soup today? Is it going to be
23:53so greasy that it ruins the dress my
23:55grandmother made for me? I mean, how's
23:57this day going to go? And then, you
23:59know, you get out and you get to the car
24:00and and then we joke. We kind of play
24:02with each other and your stomach would
24:04go back into its seat.
24:07But then again, we'd get to the head of
24:09the NAACP Daisy Bates house and we'd
24:11have to face press conference.
24:15>> Miss Bates, uh, how do you feel with
24:18your work both with the school
24:19authorities, with the city authorities,
24:21and with the military authorities that
24:22the situation is developing now?
24:24>> Very well. The military authorities have
24:27been very nice for the children as well
24:28as the school board and the city police.
24:31[Music]
24:35By Thanksgiving, the Little Rock Nine
24:36had become seasoned veterans, giving
24:39sophisticated statements to the press at
24:40a dinner held by Mr. and Mrs. Bates.
24:43>> My name is Gloria Ray. I am thankful for
24:47having a chance to fulfill my
24:49educational desires and for being a
24:52citizen in a country where the federal
24:55government respects and protects the
24:57rights of all its people.
25:00My name is Terrence Roberts and I'm a
25:027day Adventist. And I'd like to say that
25:04I know that communists enjoy taking
25:07advantage of situations such as these to
25:09twist the minds of peoples of the world.
25:12But I am thankful that in America their
25:14actions are being fought through the
25:16efforts of many democratic-minded
25:18citizens.
25:20>> I'm Mini Dean Brown. I'm thankful for
25:22the many people who have stood by us and
25:25worked diligently in our struggle for
25:29a perfect
25:30>> at school. The black teenagers were
25:32still being harassed by a few determined
25:34whites. Shortly before Christmas, many
25:36Jean Brown struck back
25:38>> for a couple of weeks. Uh there had been
25:41a number of white kids following us.
25:44uh series of uh of uh hassles uh
25:49continuous calling us [ __ ]
25:53[ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] one right after the
25:55other and uh Minnie was Mini Jean Brown
25:59was in the lunch line with me and there
26:02was this I was in front of Minnie Minnie
26:05was behind me and there was this white
26:07kid fella who was much shorter than
26:10Minnie Minnie was about 5'10
26:14And uh this fella couldn't have been
26:15more than 5'5 5'4.
26:18And
26:20he reminded me of a small dog yelping at
26:24somebody's leg. Uh and uh Minnie had
26:29just picked up a chili.
26:31>> I could just see her little head click.
26:33She consciously
26:35said to herself, "No, Minnie Jean, if
26:38you do this, you know you won't be
26:40here." But then this was the time of the
26:42year when we all didn't want to be
26:44there.
26:45>> And before I could even say, you know,
26:48many, why don't you tell them to shut
26:50up? Many had taken this chili, dumped it
26:53on this dude's head. It was just
26:54absolute silence in the place. And then
26:57the help, all black, broke into
26:59applause. And the white kids, the other
27:02white kids there, didn't know what to
27:03do. I It was the first time that
27:05anybody, I'm sure, had seen somebody
27:07black retaliate in that sense.
27:12When Mini Jean was kicked out of school
27:13following the Chile incident, maybe 15
27:1620 students brought cards and gave them
27:19out that said one down, eight to go. U
27:22when um uh school was out in uh in May,
27:28they still hadn't given up the fight.
27:30They uh they came out with a two-color
27:32card that said, "I go home. Liberation
27:35Day, May 29th, 1958," which was
27:37graduation day. They were still fighting
27:39the the battle even then.
27:43>> On May 29th, 1958, Central High School
27:46prepared to graduate 601 white students
27:49and Ernest Green.
27:53>> Uh we still didn't know whether some
27:55outsiders might roll in from some other
27:57states and and firebomb the place. So we
28:01we were a little nervous about it. Uh as
28:04was Ernest and and he stood around joked
28:06with the students. We all were all
28:08joking together. They're waiting to
28:10process in. And uh I do remember that as
28:15the students names are called and they
28:17get up and go across the platform and
28:19receive their uh diploma that I really
28:22held my breath when Ernest's name was
28:24called. There were a lot of claps for
28:26students. You know, they talked about
28:28who had received scholarships, who was
28:31an honor student and all that as they
28:32called the names off. When they called
28:33my name, it was nothing, just the name.
28:35And there was this eerie silence. Nobody
28:38clapped,
28:40but uh I figured they didn't have to
28:41because after I got that diploma, that
28:43was it. I had accomplished what I had
28:45come there for.
28:46>> I'm so glad.
28:49>> I'm fighting for my right.
28:54>> I'm so glad
28:57I'm fighting for my right.
29:01I'm so glad.
29:12[Music]
29:13>> Ernest, what's it been like this year?
29:15Has it been what you expected or?
29:17>> Well, from the beginning, it wasn't
29:19quite what we expected, but adding all
29:21things together and putting all sides
29:23together, I think it's turned out to be
29:26uh well, I would say an interesting
29:28year. I guess that would be an
29:29understatement, but when you put all the
29:32sides together, we've had some nice
29:33times as well as some rough times. And I
29:35think all in all, it's worked out rather
29:37nicely.
29:39>> By the time school had ended, I had sort
29:40of settled into myself and I could have
29:42gone on for the next 5 years. It didn't
29:44matter anymore. I was past feeling. I
29:46was uh I was into just that kind of numb
29:48pain where you say, "Hey, I can make it.
29:50Do whatever you'd like and it just
29:52doesn't matter anymore." But uh I came
29:55home and and by myself I walked to the
29:58backyard and I burned my books. I burned
30:00everything that I could burn and I just
30:02stood there crying looking into the the
30:04fire and uh wondering whether I would go
30:08back but uh not wanting to go back.
30:12>> Melba Patillo didn't have to face that
30:14decision. The next year, Governor Fbus
30:17closed down all Little Rocks high
30:18schools to halt integration.
30:22Fbus was so popular that year, he easily
30:25won his third term as governor.
30:33[Applause]
30:36[Music]
30:37[Applause]
30:37[Music]
30:41Fobas' tactic was also used in Virginia
30:44where the governor closed down school
30:45after school.
30:47>> There will be no enforced immigration in
30:51Virginia.
30:55I have the highest respect for the
30:57president of the United States.
31:00The troops are sent into Virginia. and
31:02they will patrol empty school houses.
31:10Governor Alman closed schools in
31:12Charlottesville and Norfolk and other
31:13towns and he called for unyielding
31:15rejection of integration.
31:20[Music]
31:30The federal courts were also unyielding,
31:33ruling again and again that this
31:35resistance was unconstitutional.
31:38But while the court cases were fought,
31:40the schools stayed closed and the
31:42children, especially the black children,
31:44paid the price.
31:50So the crisis and school desegregation
31:52continued.
31:54[Music]
31:58In the fall of 1960 in New Orleans, four
32:01little black girls were sent to first
32:03grade in white schools.
32:13It caused a city-wide riot.
32:15[Music]
32:22This was 6 years after the Supreme
32:24Court's ruling, and segregation was
32:26still a fact of life across the South.
32:30But in those six years, desegregation
32:32had become a fact of political life.
32:38Schools were an issue that touched all
32:39Americans, black and white, and national
32:42leaders were beginning to recognize
32:44that.
32:48>> Can we honestly say that it doesn't
32:51affect our security and the fight for
32:53peace? When Negroes and others are
32:56denied their full constitutional rights,
32:58when we who when we in this country
33:02>> this kind of rhetoric raised black hopes
33:05that the new president would lead the
33:06nation in a new commitment to civil
33:08rights.
33:11In 1961, a black man named James
33:14Meredith would test that commitment when
33:16he filed suit for admission to the
33:18University of Mississippi.
33:21His lawyers were Jack Greenberg and
33:24Constance Baker Mley of the NAACP.
33:27>> When the Meredith case was filed, it
33:30coincided with the Freedom Writers
33:32arrival in Mississippi. Uh, which of
33:36course was not a good context in which
33:39to bring that suit, but those were
33:42historical developments which we could
33:44not control because it was a genuine
33:47revolution on the part of black people.
33:50[Music]
33:51[Applause]
33:54James Meredith called it a new spirit
33:57among blacks as sitins and freedom rides
34:00spread from other southern states into
34:01Mississippi.
34:03That spirit was part of Meredith's own
34:05readiness to face the struggles he knew
34:07were ahead.
34:08[Music]
34:10>> Hallelujah.
34:13Hallelujah.
34:15[Applause]
34:17>> What made you decide on miss?
34:20Well, I
34:23thought that I should get an education
34:24in my own state and of course uh Old
34:27Miss to my knowledge is the best
34:29university in the state and also it's
34:32the only school that offers the courses
34:34that I'm particularly interested in.
34:36>> Well, you say you were interested in
34:37going to the University of Mississippi
34:39even as a boy. Uh were you aware at that
34:41time that Negroes did not go to the
34:43University of Mississippi?
34:46>> Well, I've been aware for a long time.
34:49uh of the so-called place for the negro.
34:53Yes, I've been aware.
34:55>> Therefore, you've wanted to overcome
34:57this barrier since you were a boy.
34:59>> Uh that's right. I think that the facade
35:03that he would present to the public
35:08uh was one that was somewhat cold,
35:13somewhat cocky, but it was necessary to
35:15do that in order to protect himself
35:17because after all, he was a human being
35:19with feelings, with fear.
35:22>> Friends,
35:25I'm a Mississippi segregationist and I
35:27am proud of it.
35:31Mississippi from its governor on down
35:33was the most militant of the
35:35segregationist states. It was the home
35:37of the Citizens Council, a group formed
35:39specifically to defeat integration.
35:43>> In 1955, the Citizens Council had helped
35:46crush the first attempts at
35:47desegregation in the state by using
35:49economic threats and violence.
35:52>> We must eliminate the cowards from our
35:54front lines.
35:57You did not elect me governor of
35:58Mississippi to bargain your heritage
36:02away in our smokefilled hotel room. The
36:05governor took a very active role in um
36:10uh talking
36:12about the threats that the state would
36:14make uh on its blacks who would uh try
36:18to uh enter the school. It was um an
36:22effort to instill fear uh in the hearts
36:25of blacks and it was also an effort and
36:27a very successful one to arouse fear and
36:32a kind of frenzy uh in the white
36:35community to fight back.
36:37>> Merely Evers husband Megar Evers was
36:40head of the state NAACP.
36:43Evers himself had once tried to
36:45integrate Old Miss and now he
36:47counseledled James Meredith.
36:50It was a long hard legal battle.
36:54Finally, after 9 months, the district
36:56court ruled there was no policy of
36:58segregation at Old Miss.
37:01It was so unreal for the Mississippi to
37:05argue and for the judge to hold that
37:08there was no policy of segregation at
37:10the University of Mississippi. Everyone
37:13in the state of Mississippi and I am
37:15sure almost everyone in the entire
37:17country knew that there was segregation
37:20at the in the state of Mississippi and
37:22from and for the university to assert
37:25that there was no segregation and for
37:27the court to find that there was no
37:29segregation was just uh like uh land of
37:35Fantasia. The Court of Appeals reversed
37:37the decision, ruling Old Miss must
37:40accept James Meredith. The question
37:42then, as in Little Rock, was who would
37:45enforce the order, a question the court
37:47asked directly to the president's
37:49representative.
37:50>> It was always clear as crystal. And I
37:54personally made a commitment knowing the
37:56president would back it up to the fifth
37:59circuit sitting on bunk all all nine of
38:01them that whatever force was necessary
38:04to to uh make their order effective
38:08would be applied.
38:10>> I have made my position in this matter
38:13crystal clear. I have said in every
38:16county in Mississippi that no school in
38:19our state will be innovated when I
38:22govern.
38:24I now call on every public official and
38:28every private citizen of our great state
38:31to join with me in refusing
38:35uh in every legal and every
38:37constitutional way and every way, every
38:40manner available, my friends, to submit
38:43to illegal usurpation of power by the
38:47Kennedy administration.
38:50>> The conflict was crystal clear, but the
38:52politics were not. The president and his
38:54advisers were determined Meredith would
38:56go to Old Miss. But Kennedy was also
38:59determined to avoid direct involvement,
39:01which could cost him key southern
39:03Democratic support.
39:06The president wanted a political
39:07solution.
39:10And caught in the politics was Old Miss.
39:16The board of trustees supported Barnett.
39:18Most of them did not want to integrate,
39:21but they didn't want to see the
39:22university shut down because of James
39:24Meredith.
39:25[Music]
39:36>> Well, none of the students I I think I
39:37speak for all them want the school
39:39closed and u I think if it is closed,
39:42it'll be too much pressure on Mr.
39:44Barnett that he will have to open it
39:46within a day or two anyway. Do you think
39:48if the school had to be closed, it would
39:50affect the Rebels, the football team?
39:53>> Yes, that's that's one bad thing about
39:54it. Now, all the students are are really
39:57looking forward to all the football
39:58games. And then if a school is closed,
40:00we want the ball games played anyway.
40:05>> On September 20th, the conflict came to
40:07a head when Governor Ross Barnett flew
40:09up to the Oxford campus of Old Miss.
40:15there, in defiance of the federal court
40:17order, he personally turned James
40:19Meredith away. His actions were legal,
40:22he said, based on the pre-Ivil War
40:25doctrine of interposition.
40:27>> The doctrine is that a state may
40:30interpose itself between the national
40:33government and some action that is
40:36thought to be imposed upon the state or
40:38some of its subdivisions by the federal
40:40government. The supremacy clause which
40:44provides that in case of a conflict
40:46between the nation and the states. The
40:48nation
40:50the law of the nation prevails makes
40:53hash of the doctrine of indeposition.
40:56And any lawyer wastes salt knows that.
40:59And Barnett was a lawyer who made a good
41:02living still making a good living out of
41:05the law. And he knew better than that.
41:09[Applause]
41:12[Music]
41:13[Applause]
41:195 days later on September 25th, armed
41:22with more court orders on his behalf,
41:24James Meredith tried again to register
41:26at the University of Mississippi. This
41:28time at its Jackson office and this time
41:31accompanied by John Door of the Justice
41:33Department and US Marshal James McShane.
41:38This is Hagen Thompson at the state
41:40office building in Jackson. James Marath
41:42has just arrived in the custody of
41:45federal officials and apparently making
41:47his way up to the 10th floor to
41:49register.
41:51And in they go and we'll switch now in
41:54just a moment. The crowd is booing
41:57lustily
42:00inside the Wolfuk building. Have a crowd
42:03of several thousand inside and out.
42:06They already
42:11>> again. Governor Barnett was waiting.
42:14>> I took an oath when I was uh inaugurated
42:18governor of this state to uphold
42:22and to try to maintain and perpetuate
42:24the laws of Mississippi.
42:27Gentlemen, my conscience is clear. I'm
42:30abiding by the Constitution of the
42:33United States
42:35and the Constitution of Mississippi and
42:38the laws of the state of Mississippi.
42:41>> I got to admit, I was surprised when I
42:43got to the door of the regent's office.
42:46And and when the door opened, there was
42:48on the threshold was the governor of the
42:50state of Mississippi there blocking the
42:52door. I got to say to you that I didn't
42:55anticipate that. and he had a
42:58proclamation and he read it and in which
43:02the end line was, "I refuse to register
43:06you under the authority of the laws of
43:08the state of Mississippi."
43:12So, we left.
43:15>> Once again, a governor's action had
43:17created a constitutional test. Now, the
43:20question was, would President Kennedy
43:22use the US Army as President Eisenhower
43:24had?
43:26Kennedy was still reluctant.
43:29Instead, he tried secret telephone
43:30negotiations with Governor Barnett.
43:33>> Well, now were you talking?
43:33>> You just don't understand the situation
43:35down here.
43:35>> Well, the only thing is I got my
43:37responsibility. This is not my order. I
43:38just have to carry it out. So, I want to
43:40get together and try to do it with you
43:41in a way which is the most satisfactory
43:43and causes the least chance of uh damage
43:46to people in uh Mississippi. That's my
43:48interest.
43:49>> Would you be willing to wait a while and
43:51let the people cool off on the whole
43:53thing?
43:54that you make a statement to the fact,
43:55Mr. President, that under the
43:58circumstances existing in Mississippi
44:00that uh there would be bloodshed, you
44:03want to protect the life of of of James
44:05Meredith and all other people and under
44:08the circumstances at this time. It just
44:10wouldn't be fair to him or others uh to
44:14try to register it.
44:15>> Well, then at what time would it be for
44:16you?
44:17>> Well, we we could wait. I don't know. It
44:19might be in 2 3 weeks it might cool off
44:22a Well, would you undertake to register
44:24him in two weeks?
44:25>> Well, now you know I can't undertake to
44:27register myself, but you all might make
44:29some progress that way.
44:30>> Yeah. Well, we'd be facing unless we had
44:32your support.
44:33>> I'm going to I'm going to cooperate.
44:38>> If the federal government had told
44:41Governor Barnett, "We're coming in and
44:43we're going to maintain order and we're
44:44going to register Meredith." They would
44:46have had my complete respect and
44:48cooperation. They didn't do that.
44:51And by the same token, the governor was
44:53so obsessed
44:55with the idea of maintaining our way of
44:58life
45:00that that was the ultimate objective.
45:04And with those two points of view and
45:08with the two political leaders trying to
45:11make each other look as good as they
45:12could,
45:14uh, the situation just got out of hand.
45:18[Music]
45:21The situation in Oxford was becoming
45:23very tense as hundreds of people
45:25streamed into the area to defend Old
45:28Miss and the southern way of life.
45:30[Music]
45:34>> We had had reports throughout uh not
45:37merely the students but of all kinds of
45:39people pouring in in cars in order to
45:42prevent Meredith from being admitted to
45:44to Old Miss. One has to remember also
45:47that that was the squirrel hunting
45:50season in Mississippi. So there were
45:53literally hundreds, thousands of guns.
45:56Every pickup truck had a couple of guns
45:59in it. Uh and uh so that the situation
46:02was was really very dangerous.
46:09[Applause]
46:13Saturday, September 29th. The Old Miss
46:16campus was deserted as the students
46:17flocked to Jackson for the football game
46:19against Kentucky.
46:29The halftime speaker was Governor Ross
46:32Barnett.
46:35[Applause]
46:49I love Mississippi.
46:55>> I love her people.
47:00>> Our customs.
47:02I love and I respect our heritage.
47:06[Applause]
47:26The next day, Sunday, September 30th,
47:29finally, President Kennedy decided the
47:31time had come to enroll James Meredith
47:33at Old Miss.
47:35He sent several hundred US marshals to
47:37the campus to prepare and he announced
47:40he'd make a special speech to the state
47:42that night.
47:44>> Sunday evening when I flew down in a
47:47government plane to the airirstrip of
47:49the University of Mississippi and we had
47:51marshals already down there. We had
47:53about four or 500 marshals sworn in as
47:56from the prison guards, from the border
47:58patrol, from the US Marshall Service,
48:01from any other place we could find
48:03reasonably trained law enforcement
48:05officers and uh they were themselves an
48:08irritant to the students who were
48:11returning from a football weekend and we
48:14had no place to sort of hide the
48:15marshals. Uh we were around the Lysan
48:18building which was the center of the
48:20campus and unbeknownst to us uh a sort
48:24of a tradition and a place of great
48:26honor.
48:28>> Students came and of course they saw the
48:31marshals. I know I got angry when I saw
48:36the marshals. It it just it seemed a
48:38betrayal. It made me mad. You know why
48:41are these people here when we haven't
48:43done anything? uh and people who behave
48:46themselves and you know what is going on
48:48and I caught myself
48:51uh really w with some of these feelings.
49:00>> After the marshals had secured their
49:01positions, James Meredith was flown into
49:04Oxford airport and driven to a secret
49:06location at Old Miss.
49:11The crowds didn't know where he was, but
49:13they knew he was on campus. And at 8:00,
49:17just as the president went on the air,
49:19Old Miss turned into a battlefield.
49:30Americans
49:34[Applause]
49:35[Music]
49:39are free and sure to disagree with the
49:41law, but not to disobey it. For any
49:44government of laws and not of men, no
49:47man, however prominent or powerful, and
49:51no mob,
49:53however unruly or boisterous, is
49:56entitled to defy a court of law.
50:00The eyes of the nation and all the world
50:02are upon you and upon all of us.
50:08>> The marshals were ordered not to use
50:10guns against the riers who were shooting
50:12and throwing Molotov cocktails. And the
50:14riers were targeting the media, smashing
50:17cameras and attacking reporters.
50:20[Music]
50:25There was one
50:28freshman girl
50:31uh that had been this little flower of
50:34southern gentility uh when I had met her
50:38uh and uh she came up to me uh and her
50:43face was absolutely contorted and I
50:46almost didn't recognize her and she was
50:49absolutely furious because She had
50:52picked up a brick and thrown it at a
50:54marshall and it had only hit him in the
50:57head and scratched him and she had not
51:00put his eye out.
51:02>> Well, you see, we got to get order up
51:03there and that's what we thought was
51:04going to happen.
51:04>> President, please, why don't you give an
51:06order up there to remove me?
51:08>> How can I remove him, governor, when
51:09there's a a riot in the street and he
51:11may step out of that building and
51:12something happened to him? I can't move
51:13him under those conditions.
51:15>> People are whining me and calling me
51:16saying, "Well, you've given up." I said,
51:18I had to say, "No, I'm not giving up.
51:20not giving up any fight.
51:21>> Yeah, but we don't
51:21>> I never give up. I I have courage and
51:24faith and and we'll win this fight. You
51:26understand? That's just the Mississippi
51:28people.
51:28>> I understand. But I don't think anybody
51:29even in Mississippi or any place else
51:31wants a lot of people killed.
51:32>> Oh, no. No.
51:33>> That's right, Governor. That's the most
51:34important thing.
51:35>> I'll issue any statement any time about
51:37peace and violence.
51:41>> While the president and the governor
51:42argued, the riot worsened. Finally,
51:45Katsenbach asked the White House for
51:47troops. It took hours for them to arrive
51:50and during the night 35 marshals were
51:53shot and two people, a French journalist
51:55and an Oxford worker were killed. But by
51:59dawn, the army had restored order.
52:04>> Of course, the president's going to win
52:06in the end. He's got the whole armed
52:09forces of the United States. He can call
52:11in the air force. He can bring navy and
52:13ships up the Mississippi River. He can
52:16call out the army as he did. He can drop
52:18parach shooters in. I suppose he could
52:21shoot missiles at Oxford, Mississippi.
52:24So, he's going to win at the end.
52:38I recall driving to the campus and I
52:42guess when I got to the circle was when
52:44I really saw the impact of the of the
52:48riot the previous evening. I uh reported
52:52to my office as I recall it there
52:55weren't very many of the staff there.
52:59Many of them were too afraid to come to
53:01the campus on Monday.
53:05and uh later uh James Meredith and came
53:09to my private office and I accommodated
53:13the registration there.
53:18It wasn't a a cause for laughter and
53:21champagne,
53:22but it was a cause for for some relief
53:26and and it it was the fact that that was
53:30over with. I mean, in a way, Oxford had
53:33become the symbol of massive resistance
53:36and the final
53:38gasp of the Civil War, if you want to
53:40look at it that way. And it was over. It
53:43had ended.
53:53[Applause]
53:54[Music]
53:59Sir, there's been a great deal of
54:00turmoil and conflict. Two people have
54:02been killed. Do you have any feelings of
54:04guilt? Have you given any second
54:06thoughts?
54:12>> I'm very sorry that anyone had to get
54:15hurt or killed. But of course,
54:19I think that's an unfair question to me.
54:21I don't believe any of you believe that
54:23I had anything to do with that.
54:26How are you getting along in school,
54:27sir?
54:28>> Just fine. Just fine.
54:29>> How are these students uh have it been
54:31talking to you? Has there been any
54:32reaction?
54:34>> No, just acting like students, I
54:36suppose.
54:37>> Is this a kind of a lonely life for you
54:39despite all these people around you?
54:41>> I've been living a lonely life a long
54:43time.
54:43[Music]
54:50It was a lonely victory for James
54:52Meredith, but it was a victory for him
54:54and the country.
54:57The Constitution had held and been
54:59reaffirmed in a major crisis.
55:05[Music]
55:08>> Thousands of black people felt the
55:09victory and saw James Meredith as an
55:11example to follow. a symbol like the
55:14Little Rock Nine of their own power to
55:16move the nation.
55:19[Music]
55:19[Applause]
55:20>> We have to fight.
55:22>> We got to hold
55:24>> We got to hold up.
55:29>> We got to hold it.
55:30>> We got to hold it up until we
55:38got a soldier.
55:40[Applause]
55:42I've got my hands on
55:46my heart.
55:49[Applause]
55:51I can't fight anymore
55:56and fight
55:59[Applause]
56:00[Music]
56:06[Music]
56:19you.
56:24upon the everlasting
56:29[Music]
56:46You
56:50[Music]
57:04may be seated.
57:08Major funding for American Experience is
57:10provided by the Alfred Peaceloan
57:12Foundation. National corporate funding
57:15is provided by Liberty Mutual and the
57:17Scots Company. American Experience is
57:20also made possible by the Corporation
57:22for Public Broadcasting and by Public
57:25Television viewers.
57:29Funding for the re-release of Eyes on
57:31the Prize made possible by the Ford
57:34Foundation and the Gilder Foundation.

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