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| Elizabeth Eckford attempting to enter Little Rock School (Sep. 4, 1957) (Photo by Will Count, Arkansas Gazette |
What similarities (and differences) do you see between the actions of the white children with respect to Henrietta and the actions of Henrietta and her cousins with respect to the snakes? Consider their motives and their perceptions.
The following video from Marquette University features documentary footage of Elizabeth Eckford and other members of the Little Rock Nine who challenged school segregation in Arkansas in September, 1957.
In this next video, David Margolick describes his book, Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock (Yale UP, 2011), which is about Elizabeth Eckford (seen in the photo at right) and Hazel Bryan, who is standing behind Elizabeth, yelling at her.
Click here to read an adapted excerpt from Margolick's book. Click here to listen to a 7-minute interview with the author.
The white children who throw rocks at Henrietta fear her because they do not know her, or black people in general. They only perceive what their white parents have told them and throw the rocks with the idea of simply keeping the unknown away. However, Henrietta and her siblings know for a fact that the snakes are dangerous and so they throw rocks to keep themselves safe. Both the white children and Henrietta and her siblings share the similar motive of keeping what is dangerous away. A strong difference is evident in the perceptions of both sides, as Henrietta know of the dangers of snakes and the white children simply act in fear of what they do not understand.
ReplyDelete- Michael Womack
I agree with Michael. Expanding on his idea, I think that ironically, the black children were better educated than the white children and understood more completely what they were taught (that snakes were dangerous and frightened somewhat easily); on the other hand, the white children did not fully understand why they were to belittle black people because they were never given a reason by their parents. We all learn by example. Blind faith will only cause strife in society.
ReplyDeleteEmily Davis
I agree. I just wanted to expand on what the white children were afraid of. Many children were taught, from what I've heard from the elders in my town, that the blacks had different diseases. They were "dirty". Black men were said to have uncontrollable rage and would "snatch" the white kids up. Ridiculous, but when that's all you've known, you're scarred of it.
ReplyDeleteI think that people in general are hesitant of things that are new or things they do not know much about. Unknown things cause a potential threat or hazard. Like the snakes were unlike the black children, the black children were unlike the white children. Each acted out in aggression to scare away the potential threat. Even though the black children were not really a danger to the white children as a snake were to the black children.
ReplyDeleteStormy Wigley
In the video by Mr. Margolick about Elizabeth and Hazel, light is shed on the assumption they all have. That the other is something poisonous and potentially dangerous. Mr. Margolick discusses his shock after seeing a picture of Elizabeth and Hazel laughing together after the much different first picture where Hazel yells in rage at Elizabeth. I agree with Mr. Margolick about respecting these women. Hazel realized her mistake in targeting Elizabeth as the enemy, and Elizabeth forgave Hazel for her aggression in a very temperamental situation. Returning to the snake comments, apparently they did not know that these so called "snakes" were not poisonous at all.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to the snakes, Henrietta and her cousins would throw rocks at the dangerous, wild animals that they feared would harm them. This was done out of necessity. In a similar manner, the white children threw rocks as a result of similar motives. The white children were taught to hate African American children. This was probably done as a result of fear of the African Americans, the belief that African Americans were no better than dangerous, wild animals, or a mixture of both. The white children would have responded this way in am effort to clear the area of people (which they views as animals) to alleviate their fear and discomfort; however, this was not done out of actual necessity as with Henrietta, her cousins, and the snakes. It was done in what they thought was necessity due to the faulty misconception of the unknown,
ReplyDeleteAllon Gillispie
I found myself taking this question in a different light. I saw that the black children were throwing rocks at the cottonmouth snakes as an analogy towards the release of anger and frustration at the white children who threw rocks at them. I imagined Henrietta and her siblings throwing rocks because of the pshycological and physical abuse of the white children, which (I am just guessing here) they saw as a striking attack from something that was trying to cause them harm...just as the snakes try to strike in an atempt to harm something.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the white people threw the rocks at Henrietta because she was different and they did not know any better. They were being cruel but that was how they were raised. I think Henrietta and her cousins threw rocks at the snakes so they would not bite them. They saw the snakes as dangerous and harmful. I guess some white kids could have considered Henrietta dangerous because they did not really know her. They just knew she was different from them.
ReplyDeleteKelsey Jackson
Fear is something that everyone experiences, but there is a difference between reasons for fear. Some things are feared because we know that they are harmful to us. I am afraid of wasps because I’m allergic to them, Henrietta and her cousins were afraid of the snakes because they were poisonous and could bite them. They expressed their fear of them by throwing rocks at them to keep them away. The Henrietta’s reaction to the snakes was the same as the white children’s reaction to Henrietta and her cousins, although the motivation for their fear was different. Instead of being afraid because of what they could do, the white children were afraid because they didn’t know what Henrietta and her cousins could do. It is a sad fact of human nature that we fear what we do not understand, but through patience and understanding, we can conquer this fear.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible that the white children were not afraid of the black children at all? Is it possible that they were simply demonstrating bullying behavior? Bullies are not afraid of those they bully. They bully (in some cases, anyway) because they want to feel powerful. Might the same thing be said of those who throw rocks at animals that are not actually threatening them?
ReplyDeleteI think that yes they could possibly not have been afraid of the black children, but just bullying them. I still think that it has to do with the fact that they are different though. Or perhaps they were acting out in aggression in reaction to peer pressure. Back then you were not if high social standing if you were black or associated with blacks, so perhaps these children were picking on the black children to be "cool", just like someone who wanted to be "popular" today would pick on someone who did not wear the expensive clothes and go to the parties that the "popular" person did.
ReplyDeleteStormy Wigley