On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in theBrown v. Board of Education case that ruled "separate educationalfacilities are inherently unequal," sent shockwaves through theUnited States, especially the South.
Today, almost 50 years later, The University of Memphis willhost a screening and discussion of David Appleby's film Hoxie: TheFirst Stand, which examines how Hoxie, a small rural town innortheast Arkansas, dealt with the high court's decision.
Desegregation was an extremely volatile and complex issue thatoften gets over simplified today, U of M history professor JanannSherman said.
"We have to remember that everything at that time, especially inthe South -- buses, restaurants, hotels, public bathrooms and evenpublic water fountains -- was segregated," said Sherman.
Six men -- the superintendent of schools and five school boardmembers --decided Hoxie schools would be fully integrated when theystarted in the summer of 1955.
Instigated by the White Citizen's Council, organized to fightdesegregation, customers, neighbors and church members turned onthe men, ostracizing them from the community.
"There were death threats against them and their families thathad to be taken seriously," Appleby said.
The bravery shown by those men was appreciated and shared byHoxie's black community.
"I'm glad they didn't back down. They had the courage to make ithappen," said Fayth Hill Washington, an elementary school studentduring the integration. Washington and her mother will be guests onthe panel to discuss the film.
The black children living in Hoxie could readily testify to whatChief Justice Warren wrote in the Supreme Court decision, that"segregation of white and colored children in public schools has adetrimental effect upon the colored children." They lived iteveryday.
Schooled in a dilapidated one-room shack until the summer of1955, the transition to more modern facilities was a remarkableexperience for the black children, they said.
"I remember thinking 'Wow, they have indoor plumbing and alibrary,'" said Ethel Tomkins, a middle school student during theintegration. Tomkins is now a librarian in Hoxie.
Some Hoxie students had darker memories of the schools'integration.
"I really think the teachers did the best they could, but it wasstill so hard being in a classroom where no one looked like me,"Washington said.
Although most people have never heard of Hoxie, it played a veryimportant role in the Civil Rights Movement. Hoxie's doesn't makeit into most history books, not even as a footnote, Applebysaid.
Because historians, like most people, are drawn to the periodsof highest drama, they tend to move from the Brown decision toSeptember 1957, when many people feared the possibility of a secondcivil war, leaving Hoxie's story untold, he said.
"In Little Rock, you had great classic drama. One side you haveGov. Faubus calling out the Arkansas National Guard and promisingthat 'blood will flow,' facing off against the 101st Airborne thatEisenhower sent in," Appleby said. "Hoxie's story was different.It's a story of regular people that showed an incredible amount ofbravery."
The screening and discussion will be today in the UniversityCenter's Faulkner Lounge at 6 p.m.
