The Spirit of Central High

On June 29, 2023, a Supreme Court decision [Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. __ (2023)] held that both Harvard and the University of North Carolina's (“UNC”) admission programs are unconstitutional because the programs consider an applicant’s race as a factor.

Just a few days later, on July 2, I was in Little Rock, Arkansas, and took the opportunity to drive to Central High School. Standing in front of it, I was surprised and impressed by its size and beauty. When it was built in 1927, the American Institute of Architects named Central High School, The Most Beautiful High School in America. Thirty years later it became the center of the nation’s fight for desegregation. I felt a chill standing in front of it despite the hot and humid weather that day.

Little Rock Central High School is now a National Historical Site that commemorates the bravery of nine African-American students, who, in the face of fierce resistance, desegregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957. These teenagers fought for the right of children all over the country to attend the school of their choice, regardless of their race. Read more about the Little Rock Nine and the events of September 1957.

Across the street—now named Little Rock Nine Way—is a commemorative garden. A plaque at the garden reads:  

This commemorative garden is to celebrate the ability of people to overcome adversity, and to recognize and honor triumph of the collective good over the betterment of only a few. 

The sculpture will give voice to the values of human equity over narrow favoritism, of social justice over oligarchy of decency, and civility over bigotry. 

Through the years, Central High School has been seared by the heat of controversy, scarred by episodes of hatred and strife. Yet, in spite of those evils, it has survived. Indeed, not just survived, but succeeded beyond anyone’s belief, becoming once again, Arkansas’s premier high school. It has achieved this not by returning to its old form merely showing its pretty face, but by modeling the diversity and pluralism that caused the original storm of protest.

In 1997, President Bill Clinton, former governor of Arkansas, initiated a campaign for higher academic standards and opened a national dialogue on race. In that same year, 40 years after those same nine African-Americans were met with jeers as they tried to integrate Central High School, they walked through those same doors, this time held open by the President of the United States.

The National Historic Site Visitor Center opened in September 2007 to mark the 50th anniversary of the school's desegregation.

Education is a precious right. Access to knowledge is a precious right. Those rights are being eroded today with book bans and Supreme Court decisions and politicians unfounded (and misunderstood) proclamations about woke.

How have we regressed so far? How can we go back?