reflection 5

I think it would be an understatement to say that what the group of students who were apart of the Little Rock Nine had to go through was disgusting. This country has a long history of racism, which still goes on today, with the law in Arizona, and this was a one of the many times when racism was at its worse. These nine students were very courageous in the fact that even though none of the students wanted them there, they went anyway. This showed the true character of the students and the true character of Little Rock. I was also immensely appalled of the actions of the governor at the time, Orval Faubas. It was extremely mind-boggling to here that he had the National Guard deployed to prevent these nine brave students from entering the school.
I would not have liked to be one of the Little Rock Nine. What they have gone through is unthinkable for another human being to go through. It was really shocking to me to know that people could act in such a horrific fashion. What’s more shocking to me is to know they acted so stupidly was because the students were a different race than they were. But I wonder if it was really the students fault. I am definitely not giving the students a pass for their action but they may not have known any better. Unfortunately the students may have been a product of their incredibly racist environment. This is what they were bombarded with all the time. They received this kind of thinking at home and everywhere else in little rock. This was their culture and as we have learned in class, everything about culture is not good.
The way that I am as of now, it would not make me happy that I would have to be taken to school with armed guards but I am going to look at this from a different perspective. I am going to look at this from the perspective of a black student going to a newly desegregated school. I feel that I would react with much sadness. I would react with sadness because I would pity each person in the crowd for their ignorance. I would know that their ignorance is preventing them from seeing people but instead seeing a color. A color in which they believe to be inferior. The racial slurs would make me very angry but I would know they were coming from an ignorant place. I would not say anything back because I would know that would put my life in danger.