Elizabeth Eckford - One of the Little Rock Nine
Stephen Sackur speaks to Elizabeth Eckford about her involvment in the the American civil rights movement and her role as one of the Little Rock Nine.
In September 1957, nine African American students, including Elizabeth Eckford, entered the all-white Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas, thereby breaking the racial segregation barrier in US schools for the first time. They became known as the Little Rock Nine. Two years earlier the US Supreme Court had ruled segregation in schools to be unconstitutional. The first time Elizabeth Eckford tried to enter Little Rock Central High she was turned away, and the image of her surrounded by a hostile crowd of local white people is one of the most famous photographs of the American civil rights struggle of the 1950s and 60s. Stephen Sackur is at her family home in Little Rock and asks if she regrets her central role in a famous chapter of recent American history.
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Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Stephen Sackur |
Interviewed Guest | Elizabeth Eckford |