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On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs. Board of Education that state laws mandating public school segregation were unconstitutional under the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Daisy Bates is synonymous with segregation and the fight against legal and social obstacles to educational opportunity for African-American youth.
Daisy Lee Gaston Bates was born in Huttig, Arkansas in 1920 and reared by adoptive parents Orlee and Susie Smith. Bates' biological mother was brutally attacked, murdered and submerged in a pond by three white men. Shortly after the tragic incident, her father was forced to leave Huttig because he feared reprisals from some angry whites, who did not want him to prosecute the suspects. The tragedy of her mother's death and racial discrimination she experienced growing up caused Bates to dislike Whites. Her father disapproved of her prejudice toward whites, and moments before his death, said the words that inspired her to divert her anger against whites to activism for civil rights. Her father's words contained a timeless lesson:
"Hate can destroy you. Don't hate white people just because they're white. If you hate, make it count for something. Hate the humiliations we are living under in the South. Hate the discrimination that eats away at the soul of every black man and woman. Hate the insults hurled at us by white scum--and they try to do something about it, or your hate won't spell at thing."
Bates said of her father's message, "He had passed on to me a priceless heritage--one that was to sustain me throughout the years to come. I've never forgotten that incident. I decided I would do what I could to help my race."
Bates married Lucius Christopher Bates, an insurance agent and close family friend, in 1941. They moved to Little Rock, Arkansas and founded the State Press newspaper. The newspaper served, then and today, as a promoter of social and economic upliftment for the African American citizens of Arkansas.
Orval E. Faubus, who became Governor of Arkansas on August 10, 1954, pledged in his campaign statement on school integration, "that the rights of all will be protected but that the problem of desegregation will be solved on the local level, with state authorities standing ready to assist in every way possible." Two years later, on July 11, 1956, Governer Faubus said at a campaign rally that, "No school district will be forced to mix the races as long as I am governor of Arkansas."
In her capacity as state conference president of the NAACP, Daisy Bates participated in litigation to pressure the Little Rock School Board to proceeds with an integration program. The resultant "Blossom Plan" called for integration in the high school. Daisy Bates took on the responsibility of providing protective custody for the students chosen to integrate Central High School. The nine students, aged 14 to 16, who are able to attend Central High School were: Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Pattillo, Gloria Ray, Terrance Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls, dubbed "The Little Rock Nine." The students and their parents had faith in Daisy Bates' ability to withstand the resistance of whites in the city and the onslaughts of violence. A rock was thrown into the picture window of the Bates' home in August of 1957. The note attached to the rock had the message, "Stone this time. Dynamite next." Two days after this incident, an eight-foot cross was burned on the Bates' lawn. The message this time was, "Go back to Africa. KKK." This incident made Bates more determined than ever to carry on with the plans to integrate. According to Harry Ashmore, executive editor of the Little Rock Gazette,
"As resistance to desegregation grew among whites, Daisy Bates--editor-in-chief of the black newspaper, the Arkansas State Press, and president of the Arkansas NAACP--was in the forefront of black community efforts to force integration when the schools opened in the fall of 1957, her home became the rallying point for the black students involved."
On September 23, 1957, the Little Rock Nine met at Daisy Bates' house, and were driven to Central High School. Governor Orval Faubus blocked the students from entering by posting National Guard troops at the entrance. After this incident, Bates sent a telegram to President Eisenhower, requesting support. Eisenhower responded by sending Federal troops to Little Rock to escort the black students. On September 25th, the Little Rock Nine met at Bates' home and were escorted to Central High by the troops. When the students arrived at the school, they were verbally accosted by white mobs, and surrounded by hundreds of photographers and reporters. The students, backed with the encouragement and support of their Daisy Bates and their parents, walked proudly into the building and withstood the abuse they received from white students and teachers throughout the school day. This became the routine. The students would meet at Bates' house before school and return there after school. Although Bates had no children of her own, she cared for the Little Rock Nine as if they were her own and others often referred to them as "Daisy Bates' children."
Bates remained the escort, advisor, and mentor for the students until they received the education to which they were entitled. On May 27, 1958, one of Bates' "nine," Ernest Green, became the first black to graduate from Central High in a class of 601 white students. Just a couple of months later, on July 7, 1958, a bomb exploded in front of the Bates' home on July 7, 1958. Amidst the violence directed at the students and herself, Bates never wavered. The New York Times reported that, "When Governor Orval Faubus ordered the National Guard to Central High School, Mrs. Bates immediately with into action and she has not stopped since."
After the crisis, Daisy worked in voter registration campaigns for the Democratic National Committee for over two decades. Although no women were scheduled to speak during the 1963 March on Washington, Bates was asked to say a few words.
She worked with the community Revitalization Project in Mitchelville, Arkansas to provide utilities, sanitation services, and educational opportunities for the citizens of this predominantly black city. She continued to remain involved in community activities in the black community until shortly before her death on November 4, 1999.
Just a couple of hours after Bates' funeral, during a White House ceremony, President Clinton presented the nine Little Rock students with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor. During his speech, Clinton recalled a visit to the Civil Rights museum in Memphis, "We dedicated the exhibit on Central High School with the statue of Governer Faubus on one side and Daisy on the other. And even though by then she had to get around in a wheelchair, she got a big laugh out of that, and what a wonderful laugh she had." During the ceremony, former Little Rock nine, Ernest Green, asked for a moment of silence in her honor. Green expressed the sentiments of all the "nine," when he said of Bates, "We will sorely miss her, she made an enormous contribution to the civil rights movement." Addressing the Little Rock Nine, Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln said of Daisy Bates, "I know she was a guardian angel of sorts for you. I know she is with us today in spirit."
A statement issued by Vice President Gore provides a final tribute to Daisy Bates, a twentieth century civil rights pioneer: "Her commitment to civil rights was a life-long endeavor. She served as the president of the Arkansas chapter of the NAACP and spoke with eloquence at the March on Washington in 1963. Over the course of her life, she received many awards for her work. But I think most Americans agree that Daisy will be remembered more for what she gave than what she received."
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