February is Black History Month. A time to commemorate the contributions of important Black figures in history, as well as a time to respect and remember the difficult fight for diversity and racial equality. This article will be celebrating the life and contributions of a nationally recognized black American woman by the name of Daisy Bates.
Her Story
In 1917, racism exposed itself to three-year-old Daisy Bates for the first time when three white men attempted to sexually assault, and eventually murdered, her mother. Fearing attack from those who did not want an investigation into the crime forced her father to leave. Only just a baby, Daisy Bates was left behind as an orphan and raised in a foster home. There was no investigation for the crime that tore the family apart.
Daisy Bates met her future husband at a young age, and together they travelled around southern US. They eventually settled in Little Rock, Arkansas, and wrote a newspaper together which they called The Arkansas Weekly. It was solely dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement, and collaborated with many Civil Rights organizations. This made her a popular figure in the movement.
The Little Rock Nine Project
When the Supreme Court ruled segregated schools as unconstitutional in 1954, Bates began pushing to enroll black students at established “white” schools. She persisted, although many schools rejected the students. She used her newspaper to publicize the schools that accepted the black children. Due to her role in the integration of black students however, she quickly became a target of aggression and had to shut down the newspaper soon after to ensure her own safety.
Daisy Bates is best known for her project known as “The Little Rock Nine,” which involved ending racial segregation at The Little Rock High School by enrolling nine black students. On the first day of school, police officers had to sneak the students into the building for fear of protesters. Despite the precaution, when protesters discovered that there were black students within the school, they confronted the guards. The students had to be taken home, but they returned the next day escorted by U.S. Army paratroopers.
Further Contribution
Bates worked relentlessly to ensure the safety of the students she enrolled, joining the school’s parent council and consistently advising the children. All of them graduated, and after the success of her project Bates began to write memoirs. The First Lady at the time, Eleanor Roosevelt, wrote a foreword for the book highly praising it. This gathered a lot of attention for Daisy Bates. She used it to advance her efforts in the Civil Rights Movement, and eventually won national recognition for her efforts against racism. Because she was one of the only female civil rights figures, she recieved an invitation to speak at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.
Daisy Bates died in 1999, and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom. She will forever be remembered as a crucial figure in the Civil Rights Movement and in desegregation of American schools.