Carlotta Walls LaNier was just 14 years old when she and eight of her fellow students integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The group, who would be known as The Little Rock Nine, were greeted by angry mobs and armed National Guardsmen, who tried to keep them out of the school. LaNier spoke at Florida Gulf Coast University Monday night, and encouraged her audience to pay attention to the lessons of history.
LaNier says she appreciates how things have changed since the days of the Little Rock Nine, but warns that people must stay vigilant in order to maintain equality. "It makes me feel good to be able see diversity in the universities where I go and speak," she says. "But I would like for these kids to understand that they don’t want to go back to that sort of thing. And unfortunately I see plenty of signs of that."
The abuse and violence she and the others withstood were worth the sacrifice, she says, but she worries about where things are going in the current cultural climate.
"I do feel that all of the progress that we have made over these 65 years is being challenged every day in every way," LaNier says. "And we need to keep the feet to the fire, to ensure that those rights and justices continue to take place."
After she graduated Central High, she says, she didn’t talk about the experience for 30 years. Then, wanting to get the true story out, she wrote a book called A Mighty Long Way. And today, at age 77, LaNier spreads her message about the importance of education through speaking events like this one.
