OPINION: Learning as we struggle and struggling as we learn

By Ivory Phillips

JA Contributing Editor

Sixty-Nine years ago, September 25, 1957, nine African American students – Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls – were admitted to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, under the protection of federalized national guardsmen. What they did was a big deal because it was the first time in American history that such an action had been taken.

It was a struggle and a learning experience. It was a struggle in the sense that the organizing effort and the court battle, led by Daisy Bates and the NAACP, was part of the nationwide and age-old civil rights/liberation movement of African Americans. 

It was a struggle in that it involved the deliberate actions of numerous individuals to oppose and change what was then the cultural or societal norm. 

It was a learning experience in that many had come to realize that in a racist environment, as was Little Rock, Arkansas, the idea of having separate but equal public facilities was highly impractical and immoral. 

It was a learning experience in that many oppressed by the segregated system had come to realize they were not going to see the racially-dual system changed locally merely because the Supreme Court had issued a national ruling; that the White Supremacists were already ignoring the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, as they had done before.

When one considers the actions of the Little Rock Nine, one question becomes, “what did we learn from that episode?” While this is not an exhaustive list, among the things learned were that: 

(1) the white racist actions, based upon the idea of White Supremacy, were not and would not remain confined to Little Rock, as outbreaks soon occurred in Clinton, Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana; and even Boston, Massachusetts, among others; 

(2) the racist resistance of European Americans would require even more legal action in not only other school districts, but also for institutions of higher learning; 

(3) matters of admissions, teacher salaries and hiring practices, facilities and funding, and curricula standards and content must be examined and developed if they are to help provide true equal protection for students regardless of race or ethnicity; and 

(4) specific ways of responding to such white resistance should be developed and continually improved upon as circumstances warrant.

From the Little Rock Nine episode, we came to learn of the counseling and psychological support needed by “isolated” students like them, like Ruby Bridges in New Orleans, like the Rosedale Four, and hundreds of others who bore the brunt of racial hatred and discrimination “for the good” of the movement and of the African American community. 

Based upon the reactions of the same defenders of White Supremacy at the elementary and secondary levels, African Americans came to realize the need to go to court to address the racial problem in higher education. This resulted in the initiation of Adam vs. Richardson and a spate of subsequent cases, such as Ayers vs. Waller. (It was no surprise that there was resistance at that level as had been the case at the lower level.)

In dealing with the issue engaged by the Little Rock Nine – unfettered access to a quality education – we understand there is and rightly must be a cycle of continual struggling as we learn and learning as we struggle. Access to education had long been the early prize sought by African Americans and the thing denied through various means by European Americans.

Given that access to an education is a human right and a natural expectation, one can see the problem began as African Americans were enslaved and denied that right. They then rightly began struggling to assert their right to an education, while every impediment, political, economic, legal, and otherwise, was raised to deny or greatly curtail it. Each time there was a struggle, African Americans have been compelled to learn from and build upon that effort, as the supporters of White Supremacy have developed new ways and means, different political angles, and unique interpretations of the law in order to maintain their dominance.

It is interesting to note that each time the government stepped-in to try and level the playing field, that is, assert equity or democratic access, White Supremacists have claimed they were being oppressed. (Eliminating privilege or advantage is not oppression; it only feels that way if one is accustomed to always being on top.) We saw it happen regarding various laws during Reconstruction; we saw it with various policies promoting affirmative action; we saw it under the diversity, equity, and inclusion policies recently initiated. In none of those, however, were European Americans oppressed or otherwise disadvantaged. Yet the argument persists.

This brings us back to the necessary cycle that African Americans dare to keep in mind, that is, we must learn as we struggle and struggle as we learn. As has been illustrated in Black history, as they have considered and learned of their different oppressive situations, they have struggled against them; and as they have learned from the struggle, they have been better able to alter or improve their struggle. 

If there is no struggle, for sure there will be no change or improvement, only a coasting along with whatever is forthcoming. If there is no learning, from a struggle, there will just be a spinning of one’s wheels, but no progress. Only when there is both learning and struggle is there a chance of improving. (When there are individuals who have no perception or sense of a struggle, it is a sign they are not struggling, and are accepting the status quo. When there are individuals who do not learn or refuse to learn from what is happening, they are to be pitied as unfortunate and doomed to remain in their state.) 

We close re-affirming the idea that the prize of full and free access to a quality education is still before us. We close with the admonition that as we proceed to struggle and to learn, around this issue, we dare not turn our backs on our history; we dare not forget the Little Rock Nine, the plaintiffs and attorneys in Brown vs. Board of Education, Adam vs. Richardson, and related cases; and we dare not forget the unnamed thousands who have answered the call to build a better life, based upon what has been learned.