LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Sept. 26 The nine African-American citizens known as the Little Rock Nine for their civil rights fight in Arkansas 50 years ago are set to join together once again.
The Christian Science Monitor reported Wednesday that the nine former Little Rock Central High School students are planning to reunite this week in Little Rock, Ark., to commemorate their historical battle for school integration.
One of the group's members said the commemoration of the 1957 civil rights battle will also be an opportunity to continue the fight for school integration nationwide.
"We are going to move forward," Melba Pattillo Beals said Sunday. "The issue is, how do we move forward in a way that is inclusive rather than exclusive? And so we are not 100 percent happy, but that just means we have got to ... work harder."
While U.S. schools have significantly improved in terms of integration, notable differences between white and African-American students have been found in college graduation rates and standardized test scores.
Similar discrepancies are apparent in many U.S. cities like Little Rock, where African-Americans earn less money than their white counterparts, the newspaper said.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
