Which Southern city became the setting of a public school integration “crisis” three years after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. the Board of Education deemed “separate but equal” unconstitutional?
Explanation
Answer: C - In 1957, three years after the U.S. Supreme Court declared “separate but equal” unconstitutional in their Brown v. the Board of Education (1954) decision, nine African-American students enrolled at Little Rock Central High School, which led to Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus activating the Arkansas National Guard to block their admission in an event termed “the crisis in Little Rock.” President Dwight D. Eisenhower then federalized the Arkansas National Guard to get the students into the school. One thousand white protestors swarmed the campus daily to demonstrate against the integration, while 10,000 national guardsmen and 1,200 members of the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army protected the “Little Rock Nine” and ensured they got into and out of school each day without harm, although they narrowly escaped violence on numerous occasions. They also faced rampant discrimination once in school. The “crisis” lasted beyond the 1957-1958 school year-the following year, Faubus called off school in Little Rock altogether in his ongoing attempt to thwart integration. The 1958-1959 school year ultimately came to be known as “the Lost Year.”
