Turn Away Thy Son: Little Rock, the Crisis that Shocked A Nation

As I write this, Little Rock is gearing up for the fiftiethanniversary of the desegregation of Central High School, thatnigh archetypal event which seemed to pitch the forces of progressagainst those of ignorance and Southern intransigence. Preciselybecause it is often viewed in such starkly Manichaean terms,the Central High crisis has become the focal point in yet anotherbattle for memory, with some former students—white students—disparagingthe attention paid to the Little Rock Nine, insisting that they,too, suffered during that tumultuous school year. Further, theonly statewide newspaper in Arkansas is headed up by a formerplayer in the crisis who routinely recasts Governor Orval Faubusas a