ELIZABETH ECKFORD AND DOROTHY COUNTS: THE GREAT BLACK WOMEN WHO STOOD AGAINST RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND SHAMED AMERICA
There are certain history
that should never ever be forgotten by black people living every where as it
shows the strength of certain individuals who stood against all forms of racial
discrimination and prejudices to pave way for the current generation of black
people. Whiles big-shots like Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Marcus Garvey,W E Du
Bois, Thurgwood Marshall,Malcom X,Rosa Parks et al are celebrated for their
staunch opposition against Jim crow laws and racial discrimination, people
should also remember others who suffered as victims and triumph over them.
The great African-American
women who also made it in their own small way to contribute to the struggle and
must never be forgotten are Elizabeth Eckford and Dorothy Counts. The racial
discrimination against these two women actually caused a lot of international
spectacle against America`s trumpeted accolade as the most democratic and free
society in the world.
In an article written by
Jefferson Thomas in 07 Sept 2010 and the other one in 9 Oct 2011 by David
Margolick under the heading "Elizabeth Eckford and Hazel Bryan: the story
behind the photograph that shamed America" in the Telegraph newspaper of
UK, the two writers gave a graphic impression of how our black sister Elizabeth
was doing all her best to get into her new black Little Rock central high
school and the stiff opposition she faced from all white students
there,especially from one vociferous female white student named Hazel Bryan.
Image 1 of 2 Bryan taunted and hooted at
Elizabeth showing glaringly to her that blacks do not belong in their school
Elizabeth and Hazel, September 4, 1957 Photo: Will Counts Collection, Indiana University Archives
Margolick writes that “on her first morning of school,
September 4 1957, Elizabeth Eckford’s primary concern was looking nice. Her
mother had done her hair the night before; an elaborate two-hour ritual, with a
hot iron and a hotter stove, of straightening and curling. Then there were her
clothes. People in black Little Rock knew that the Eckford girls were expert
seamstresses; practically everything they wore they made themselves, and not
from the basic patterns of McCall’s but from the more complicated ones in
Vogue. It was a practice borne of tradition, pride, and necessity: homemade was
cheaper, and it spared black children the humiliation of having to ask to try
things on in the segregated department stores downtown.me a lawyer, and she
thought Central would help her realise that dream.
On the television as Elizabeth ate her breakfast, a newsman
described large crowds gathering around Central. It was all her mother, Birdie,
needed to hear. “Turn that thing off!” she shouted. Should anyone say something
nasty at her, she counselled Elizabeth, pretend not to hear them. Or better
yet, be nice, and put them to shame.
Image 2 of 2
Reconciliation; Elizabeth Eckford and Hazel Bryan are reunited for Will Counts's poster Photo: WILL COUNTS
Jefferson`s article chronicled the odyssey of hatred that was exhibited
by Hazel towards Elizabeth and how they two women finally reconciled in their
later years after school. he writes that "One girl,
Hazel Bryan, looked livid, her face poisoned with hate. As Benjamin Fine
of The New York Times later described her, she was “screaming,
just hysterical, just like one of these Elvis Presley hysterical deals, where
these kids are fainting with hysteria”. Her eyes narrowed, her brow furrowed,
her teeth clenched, Hazel shouted: “Go home, nigger! Go back to A-”.
It is so refreshing that these two personalities were
reconciled by a lawyer/writer and their story is comforting for us all. Kindly
follow the rest of the story here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/8813134/Elizabeth-Eckford-and-Hazel-Bryan-the-story-behind-the-photograph-that-shamed-America.html and
get the copy of the book by David margolick "Elizabeth and Hazel
In the fall of 1957, Elizabeth was among the nine black
students who had enlisted, then been selected, to enter Little Rock Central
High School.
Central was the first high school in a major southern city set to be
desegregated since the United States Supreme Court had ruled three years earlier
in Brown vs Board of Education that separate and ostensibly equal education was
unconstitutional. Inspired both by Thurgood Marshall, who had argued the case
of plaintiff Oliver L Brown, and Clarence Darrow, Elizabeth wanted to
becoel" here: http://books.telegraph.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9780300141931
AND HERE COMETH DOROTHY COUNTS
.Dorothy Counts was the first black student to
be enrolled into Harding High School, Carolina. This 1957 image gives us an
idea of the taunts and unnecessary humiliation she had to face during the time.
What was once accepted as a part of social behavior is today rightly condemned
as racism. This image reminds us of what society was like, not too long ago.
Where Are They
Now?: Dorothy Counts,"
the writer notes that "On the morning of September 4, 1957, fifteen-year-old Dorothy Counts set out on a harrowing path toward Harding High, where-as the first African American to attend the all-white school -she was greeted by a jeering swarm of boys who spat, threw trash, and yelled epithets at her as she entered the building.
Charlotte Observer photographer Don Sturkey captured the ugly
incident on film, and in the days that followed, the searing image appeared not
just in the local paper but in newspapers around the world.
People everywhere were transfixed by the girl in the
photograph who stood tall, her five-foot-ten-inch frame towering nobly above
the mob that trailed her. There, in black and white, was evidence of the
brutality of racism, a sinister force that had led children to torment another
child while adults stood by.
A week later, the girl in the photograph was gone. Her
parents -having been told by the school administrators and police officials
that they could not guarantee her safety -sent her to live with a relative in
suburban Philadelphia, where she could peacefully attend an integrated school.
Rather than permanently quitting the city that failed
her, she moved back three years later to earn her degree from Johnson C. Smith
University and, except for a couple early years spent living in New York City,
she has lived here ever since. (http://www.charlottemagazine.com/Charlotte-Magazine/August-2010/Where-are-They-Now/Dorothy-Counts/
Dorothy Counts—being jeered and taunted
by her white, male peers. This photo encompasses a lot of things that must be
hated: prejudice, ignorance, racism, sexism, inequality…
Dorothy Counts was taunted by, spit on, and harassed by other white classmates
during her first four days of school. However, despite the uninviting
atmosphere, she pressed on for 3 more days (before dropping out and moving to
Pennsylvania for safety reasons) and became one of the first students in a line
of many to integrate public schools.
In some ways, her actions
and the actions of those like her helped spur on social reform during the Civil
right movement in the 1950s and on. Her courage to press on and walk
through the halls of Harry Harding High School made her a part of an ugly piece
of American history and walking proof that few people can really change a lot.
Dorothy Counts Walks To Harding High School.
Dorothy Counts now Mrs Dorothy Counts-Scoggins rather than permanently quitting the city that failed her, she
moved back three years later to earn her degree from Johnson C. Smith
University and, except for a couple early years spent living in New York City,
she has lived here ever since.
Counts being interviewed
after the very school that
jeered at her has one of its school
buildings named
after her.
Elizabeth Eckford and
Dorothy counts` story must serve as a source of inspiration for every Black
person living everywhere and should motivate them that no matter the odds
against them with just a little perseverance success would be theirs. Black
women should know that they are great and strong and that nothing can obstruct
their aim of succeeding in life. Our African history is filled with the heroic
feats of women like Queen Sheba and Zewditu of Ethiopia,Ndola Ann Nzingha of
Angola,Yaa Asantewaa of Ghana et al and that what both Eckford and Count`s did
in the face of the massive discrimination and hatred was just the genetic
expression of how hard our African women are. Let us all celebrate them for
they triumph in their quest for di-segregation of schools.
Dorothy Counts-Scoggins may
be found here on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dorothy.countsscoggins
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