September 4, 1957, the hostile integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., stands as acritical moment in civil rights history. “With all deliberate speed,” order the Supreme Court to desegregate schools after declaring segregated public schools unconstitutional. Despite the opposition, Central became the first high school in a major Southern city to abide.
At 15, Elizabeth Eckford was one of nine black students chosen to integrate Central. Who knew that Eckford’s decision would make her civil rights symbol? Elizabeth’s decision to attend Central High School was one that was well thought out. She believed this was best for her. This would give her access to a better education and better her life. What can I do to improve my chance at having a better life for myself and my family? Is a question one may ask their self every day. Educating self seems to be a good choice, and that…show more content… But no one told Elizabeth. So she went alone, meeting a vicious crowd of white faces and wicked words. “Lynch her!” shouted one. “Go back to Africa!” shouted another. Hazel Bryan, 15, marched front and center that day. She just wanted to be in the mix, the center of attention. Caught up in the moment, a photograph traps Bryan, mid-outburst. “As soon as her words had dissolved in the torpid September air, she had forgotten all about them,” Bryans later states.
The years went by and equal rights for African-Americans became the forefront of the nation’s concerns, Bryan, in her early 20s with children, called Eckford to apologize for her horrific behavior. Over the years of traveling and doing interviews with one another, relationship developed between the two. Bryan even apologized to Eckford on TV but some Arkansans dismissed Bryan as an opportunist trying once again to push her way into the spotlight. The emotionally oppressed relationship ultimately did not