Letter to the Editor

Dear Pioneer:
The article titled “Pioneering Civil Rights leader and member of the Little Rock Nine visits Hayward,” written by Jenni Perez, appearing on the front page of your publication dated January 23, 2014 lacks the level of detail to provide readers with an accurate account of history.

In the second paragraph a reader can easily be mislead by the fictitious statement written by Perez. Allow me to point out a few facts. In 1957, when Dr. Melba Pattillo Beals was a teenager, Perez writes, “she was one of nine black students at a predominately white high school.” [Emphasis added] Really?

First, let us be clear about U.S. history and jurisprudence. In 1896 the United States Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” public facilities for minorities, viz. Blacks, was constitutional. The case in this instance was Plessey v. Ferguson. It was the law of the land, legalizing racial discrimination, ushering in the era of Jim Crow to the twentieth century.

Fifty-eight years later, in 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the separate but equal doctrine in Brown v. Board of Education (Topeka, Kansas). The Brown decision outlawed the precedent legalizing segregation in Plessey.

When Ms. Perez intimates black students were “at a predominately white high school,” she gives the misleading account of history. The black students, the Little Rock Nine, were attempting to integrate an all-white school in 1957, three years after the Brown decision. There is a big difference between attending a school and attempting to attend a school.

Another detail should be cleared up for the sake of journalistic integrity and from a historical perspective. That is the name of the high school. I recall Dr. Beals’ school as Central High School, not “Little Rock Central High School,” or “Central Valley” as Perez writes on page one and on the continuation page five, respectively. This does, however, beg the question: What is the correct name of the high school? The end of the article alludes to the former name.

The crescendo of the article’s errors result in a significant omission of a major fact that unequivocally distorts the national event in U.S. history where Perez writes, “Because of the intense harassment of the Little Rock Nine, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered members of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division to escort the nine to class.”

This simply was not the case the way Ms. Perez describes it. No sitting president, past or present, orders 10,000 U.S. military troops to escort children to school, as Eisenhower did, in an effort to ward off “intense harassment.” It doesn’t work that way. To be sure, that would be a local government issue having no affect on national security. If mere harassment justified military police action, then the current epidemic of school bullying plaguing schools around the country would conceivably warrant the U.S. military to be deployed here at home, instead of places such as Afghanistan.

There is an underlying reason President Eisenhower dispatched the military, under Executive Order, to Central High School in the state of Arkansas. It was due directly to the fact that Governor Orval Faubus ordered the National Guard to block the Little Rock Nine from entering the school as students. The governor’s action was in complete defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the 1954 Brown case.

President Eisenhower had an obligation as the head of the executive branch of government to enforce the ruling of the judicial branch of government (i.e., Brown). This is no minor detail of history, anymore than December 7, 1941 (the day Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan) precipitated America’s involvement in World War II, or September 11, 2001 being the impetus for the U.S to invade Afghanistan and later Iraq. When an effect is mentioned it helps the reader when there is reference to the cause.

Ms. Perez mentions Dr. Beals’ “award winning book,” Warriors Don’t Cry, but apparently has not read it. I read the book 15 years ago. It contains an extraordinary amount of detail concerning the Little Rock Nine. I urge Ms. Perez, and others, to read Warriors Don’t Cry, if she has not already done so. I presume that had she read the book prior to writing her article, I am certain she would have gleaned factual information that would have assisted her in doing a better job. Without doubt the university library, the Internet, and other available resources too would have aided her in avoiding misrepresentation of historical facts.

As aspiring journalists, those who write for The Pioneer, you have to do better.  Remember, the world is reading and hanging onto your every word. Please do not misinterpret my comments as an attack on Ms. Perez or The Pioneer. My only intent, however critical it may seem to be, is to encourage and foster the excellence you all posses. Be mindful of the fact that when your work is scrutinized by the public, that sometimes will give comment or feedback, it is not to be antagonistic. Where I stand is to help you promote the development of self. With that being said, I wish you good luck and all the best. Please continue writing. People do appreciate and care about what you have to say.

Kevin D. Sawyer
CSUH Alumnus
San Quentin State Prison